Maximum Ride: Fang
by OwlsWingProductions
Summary: Book 2. Please don't flame. Fax - don't like it, don't read it. Join the Flock as they continue on with their mission in Miami Florida! Adventure & Romance guaranteed! It's not as cheesy as it sounds I'm just horrible at summaries! *SPOILERS* For books 4 & 5!
1. Prologue: Last Chance

**AN:** Hey! This is the **second book** in my series, so if you haven't read the first go find it on my page!  
Now that that's out of the way, Welcome to Book 2 everyone! I'm majorly excited! So I know I didn't do a very good job of explaining my story in the last book, so for anyone who's confused about when and where the crossover comes in, here it is:

The crossover doesn't take effect until book 4, but even if you don't know of the anime in the crossover and all that you'd probably still enjoy the story, so just give it a try! The crossover will contain content from: Digimon Adventure 01/02, Digimon Tamers, Dragon ball Z/GT, Ranma 1 2 and Bamboo Blade. Trust me, it's better then the craziness it sounds like!

"Talking."  
_"Thinking."_  
_"Voice."_  
Max-14, Various browns, some oranges, blacks and creamy white underneath {peregrine falcon/Barn Owl}  
Fang-14, Black wings {Forest Raven}  
Spike-15, Red wings with black tips {Cardinal}  
Iggy-12, Blue, black and white wings {Bluejay}  
Nudge-10, Gold wings with black tips {Goldfinch}  
Gazzy-8, Brown, black, gray and gold wings with a few white dots {Kestrel}  
Angel-6, Pure white wings {Dove}  
Total- Gray with white speckles (I love that word! Speckles! ^.^)  
Comments, Suggestions and/or praises (hopefully) are very welcome, but I don't believe people should be mean so no Flame's! -Owl  
**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, So you can't sue! Story Time!**

_**Maximum Ride: Fang - Prologue: Last Chance**_

The room was dark, the only thing visible was the glowing silhouette on the large screen at the head of the table. The two closet to the screen gulped nervously as their eyes glanced at the creature on the floor. It's blood pooled out of the gun shot it had taken to the head and it's wings lay crumpled and motionless behind it. There was no doubt that the clone they'd created was dead.

"You failed to carry out your orders." The dark figure on the screen snapped. "And you attempted to destroy my most prized creation!"

"With all due respect, Sir, she would have failed the test, had she not escaped." The female of the two people sitting on either side of the screen defended herself.

"And yet she's still alive!" The figure yelled. "She retreated because she could not win in that condition. She knew this. She defeated you. It's time you excepted that, Director."

Director, Marian Janssen, sat back down and glared at the table in front of her. Had it not been for that stupid girl she would be getting praised by their superiors just then, not Jeb.

"You two have failed me with this plan of yours and you have defied direct orders! I should roast you over my fire and eat you for dinner!" The figure continued, making Marian and the man across from her sweat nervously. "I grow tired of your endless mistakes! You have one last chance to bring me the girl! Don't fail me again!"

"I vill contact my unit and prepare them." The man announced. "Just make sure to take care of that boy." He spat the last word at Marian.

"What shall I do with the rest of them, Sir?" Marian asked, looking up at the screen.

"Do not kill them just yet. They could be of some use. Bring me the girl and then we shall decide the fate of her... Flock." The figure said, his chuckle dark and unnerving.

"Yes, Sir. I won't fail you again." Marian promised.

"Good. And make no mistake. If you fail there will be dire consequences. Now go! Bring me my creation!" The figure ordered, sending the pair scurrying out of the room.

"Bring me Maximum Ride!"


	2. Itex

_**Maximum Ride - Episode 1: Itex**_

"Get down!" Spike screamed as a bomb flew overhead and exploded against the back wall. Debris fell over everyone and the Flyboys were growing in numbers.

"We have to get out of here!" Nudge exclaimed, clinging to the building plan we'd come to get.

We were separated between the groups of Flyboys and the door was blocked, which left us only one escape route: The window.

It was already smashed open by one of the many events that had happened during the fight so far. The desks in the room were turned over and, or thrown to the side. The computers laid on the floor ruined with smashed screens and severed wires. The drawers of filing cabinets were strewn across the room in random order and papers were flying everywhere.

I'll give you one guess to find out who was the only one blocked off from the window.

"MAX!" I called as Angel fluttered out the window with Total tightly pressed against her chest.

Iggy and Spike held off the Flyboys as the kids went through the window one by one, avoiding the shards of glass, poking out dangerously from the window frame. Max was to distracted to respond as she fought off two Flyboys. I growled as another one came up behind her, a shock collar gripped in it's metal claws.

I launched myself forward and then jumped over Max, slamming my fist right in between the Flyboy's eyes, knocking it over and sending the shock collar under one of the desks.

"Watch it!" I warned Max, keeping back to back with her as we fought our way through the crowd.

"Come on!" Spike called, jumping into the fray as Iggy joined the other kids in the sky, circling high above the skyscraper.

Spike left through the window and then Max took up a defensive position beside it, obviously expecting me to go first.

As I finished off a Flyboy I spun around and then grabbed Max's wrist. She started to protest, wondering what I was doing, but then stopped as I threw her out the window. She shot up past the broken window after falling a few feet and then I went after her, following until we were level with the Flock. Everyone smiled as we gathered together, except Max.

She glared at me.

**Welcome to Fang's Blog. You are visitor number:** Stat thing broke a while back.

Florida. It's average temperatures in January are, at the lowest, sixty-one and seventy-four at the highest. It's hot and sticky, but the beaches are beautiful and clear, the waters are the perfect temperature and it's one of the few places on earth where Sun-showers are a regular thing.  
Why are we in Florida? Well, it's been three weeks since Christmas and we got a huge lead on this company called Itex. They develop everything you can think of. Soda's to cars, you name it, they've made it. We found some evidence that told us Itex was a major profit to the School, sponsoring them and giving them the supplies they needed to keep their experiments going at half price.

I'm all for taking these guys down, but there's just one thing that makes me want to go back to the Martinez house. Come on, you guys can guess what it is. Ready? All together now:

Max.

Idiot's still twenty-four pounds lighter then she used to be. And considering she was only a 102 pounds before that doesn't really leave that much there! We can all do the math! 78 pounds! That's not healthy! Not even for a bird-kid!

But of course she just ignored me and Spike and told the kids to get their packs ready.

Oh, well. Now I can rub her nose in it whenever she falls out of the sky or something. You never really know with Max. But then again she's already miffed that I threw her out a window...

Later. -**Fang**.

**Sara**: 78 pounds?! That's crazy! You gotta take good care of Max until she's back up to 100 percent, you got that, Fang?

**Fang**: I would. But she'd probably just punch me.

**PancakeLuver28**: Why on earth would you throw her out a window?!

**Fang**: Because Spike and the others had already gone!

**KoolDude**: Who the hell screwed her up? She get pounded on or somethin'?

**Fang**: Something like that. She got captured and taken to Germany. She hasn't really talked about it much...

**TripleDoom**: Max sounds like an idiot. Why on earth would you let her lead?

**Fang**: Mostly because she's insane and all the best people are! Oh. And I'm the only one allowed to call Max an idiot, don't forget that.

I sighed and shut the laptop. I didn't like it when kids ragged on Max for something. But I couldn't control everything. I looked around the hotel room. It was early in the morning the next day. Spike was taking a shower, Angel and Nudge were fast asleep, Iggy and Gazzy were snoring loudly, Total was grumbling in his doggy bed about not being able to sleep because of sharing a room with two snorting pigs and Max was looking over the building plan we'd stolen. It had everything. Designs for the Itex headquarters, guards hours, guards patrol routes, labels for every room in the building.

It was a pain in the ass to get, but it made Max's job easier.

I decided that she'd been staring at the piece of paper for way to long and walked over to her. She was sitting on top of the covers on her bed that she shared with Angel. I peered over her shoulder and then snatched up the parchment. I quickly rolled it up and held it over my head. I knew Max hated it when I made a point of me being taller then her. So of course I do it anyway!

"Fang!" She whisper-yelled, not wanting to wake the kids after such a brutal mission. "Give it back!"

One of the great things about Max having a mom was that we didn't have to sleep in trees anymore. We got fancy, pet friendly hotels instead. Apparently Dr.M gets quite the paycheck.

Our room had three beds, a comfortable couch, a Tv, a fully stocked mini-bar, a mini-fridge, a huge bathroom with a shower that was big enough for us to stretch our wings out half-way in and a huge window with a great view of the Miami Florida beaches.

"Max." I said, putting a hand on her shoulder so she would stop trying to jump up and grab her precious paper. "You've been over this plan sixteen times. We're heading out tonight and by tomorrow morning Itex will be finished. Relax." I told her.

She huffed, but then closed her eyes, took a deep breath and then let it all out. Her eyes opened and they looked up into mine expectantly. I shook my head and waved my free index finger at her. I went over to my pack, placed the building plan inside it and then took out a small, plastic, zip-top bag.

"Here." I said, tossing the bag to her. "Breakfast." Max smiled brightly at me as she saw the contents of the bag and quickly opened it to take out the first chocolate-chip cookie.

I chuckled and went over to the mini-fridge. I poured two glasses of milk and then returned to Max who had settled on the couch that I had claimed as my bed the night before.

Max and Angel shared one bed, then Spike and Nudge in another and then the last one was given to Iggy and Gazzy. I had taken the couch without complaint and then stayed up to keep watch.

Why? Well, Max had been wide awake at one o'clock in the morning and when I woke up to go to the bathroom I noticed. I asked her what was wrong and she unwillingly told me that the last time she'd slept in a motel/hotel type place she'd been captured, replaced and dragged off to Germany. I had asked her if me staying up would make her feel better and it did. So I kept watch over my Max for the rest of the night.

I sat down next to Max and offered her one of the glasses. She took it happily and then gave me a cookie from the bag that was placed in her lap.  
Spike came out of the bathroom then, dressed in the usual t-shirt and jeans, while drying her hair with a towel.

"I will never stay in a creepy, kinky, run-down motel ever again!" She announced, pulling out a water bottle from the mini-fridge and sighing in content after taking several long gulps.

"Yeah, and now we don't have to dumpster dive for breakfast." Max chuckled, shaking her head at the memories.

"Speaking of breakfast, we should probably order room service or something. Have a plan for it so when the kids wake up asking for food we'll already have something." Spike suggested.

I held up a finger, telling them to wait, and reached over to the Tv stand next to the couch. I picked up the menu for room service and passed it to Max.

"They have quite a wide range of food groups." I told her and she rolled her eyes at me as she turned to flip through the menu.

"I'll order something for everyone, you guys want anything in particular?" Max questioned and I snatched the menu from her like I had the building plan.

Max glared at me playfully and I jumped up, holding the menu above my head with both hands, so I could hold it open and read it, while Max tried to jumped for it, glaring and threatening me as Spike keeled over on an arm chair laughing at us.

That is, until Iggy decided to be a smart ass by throwing a pillow at my back, causing me to fall forward onto Max.

I dropped the menu at my feet and put my hands out to catch myself so I wouldn't hurt Max by landing on her. there was a loud thump and then my face was less the a breaths length away from Max's. My hands were on either side of her head and her eyes were the size of dinner plates as they stared into mine.

"Oops! Sorry, I must have been throwing pillows in my sleep again. Max, could you hand that back to me? What's that? You're busy with Fang? Okay, don't worry! I've got it!" Iggy cackled, falling back onto his bed.

"You'd better be careful, Iggy. Fang just might hurt you." Gazzy said, using his imitation powers to sound just like me, but then he started laughing with Iggy.

I quickly, and awkwardly, climbed off of Max and she shot up to standing, stumbling nervously for words before offering me a hand up. I took it and she pulled me to standing beside her.

"Why do you guys insist on making Fang and I stumble around like drunken monkeys?" Max asked, hands on her hips as the two little devils smiled innocently up at her.

"Because it makes Fang embarrassed and embarrassing Fang is fun." Gazzy told her sweetly. Max pursed her lips, opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again.

"Well... You've got a point there." She admitted! And then she just walked away to pick up the phone and order breakfast!

"Excuse me, but I'm standing right here!" I told them. Max just shrugged, smirking at me and then smiled.

"It's what you get for teasing me with your tall-ness!" She said, sticking her tongue out at me. My jaw dropped and Spike, Gazzy and Iggy just started laughing at me all over again.

When the guy with the food came up everyone pretty much shot out of bed and grabbed any food they could get their hands on. We ate and talked for about an hour and then, at eleven thirty, we finished breakfast and got back to being serious.

"Okay. Here's the plan." Max started once we'd all gathered around the building plan, which was spread out on the table the guy with the food had brought in for us.

"There's an air-duct right here..."

Twelve o'clock on the dot all the lights in the sixteen story skyscraper went out and the large, glowing sign Itex, was turned off as well. From across the street we had the perfect view of our entry point and we swooped down on to the roof-top silently.

Max and I ran over to the air-duct and then mutely nodded to each other right before lifting the grate off and putting it to the side. Iggy slipped in first, being the best at 'seeing' in the dark, leading the way through the dark tunnel.

Spike followed with the building plan in her hands, then Angel, Gasman, Nudge, Max and finally myself. We stayed in a single file line and kept our steps as quiet as possible. Max kept looking back at me and I'm pretty sure it's because she wanted to make sure I was still there. I grinned at her and she rolled her eyes. After that I made a point of keeping as quiet as possible, just to make her skin crawl.

"Alright." Spike whispered after we'd been creeping about for a while. "Turn left up here and the next grate you find should be right above the main computer room."

"Wait." Iggy said suddenly, putting a finger to his lips so we would be quiet.

"What is it?" Max asked, looking at him intently.

"To the right. There's someone breathing pretty heavily." Iggy announced.

"A guard?" I asked, narrowing my brow and preparing for an unwanted fight.

"I don't know... It's breathy. Like they've been gagged." Iggy said, struggling to describe what he was hearing.

All eyes turned to Max, waiting for the order, and she fought with herself for a minute before she finally growled with annoyance.

"Fine. Fang and I will check it out. Spike, take everyone else to the computer room. Nudge, get to work as soon as you're in there. And you four." She said rounding on the other kids and Total. "Behave yourselves."

With that we broke and Max and I went right while the others went left.

"I don't like this. Splitting up is a bad idea." Max muttered as we crawled through the large vent. I smirked at her.

"Then why did you agree to it?" I asked, my smirk growing bigger as her nose scrunched up at me and her feathers ruffled up.

"Because I'm defective, okay?! I can't follow orders! And the Voice in my head insisted that we leave here, forget about the gagged person and destroying Itex and leave! But, again, I can't follow orders, so here we are!" Max hissed quietly, trying not to alert anyone of our presence but also trying to yell at me in hushed tones. It was actually quite amusing.

We kept going until we came to a grate and peered down into a room. It was big and white, except for the blood stains and the big, brown chair with a lady strapped to it.

As expected she was gagged. Her hazel eyes reflected fear, her long red hair was tangled and knotted, her clothes (a plain, pin-stripe, dress suit.) were disheveled and it looked as if she'd been captive for a while, considering the rope/strap/handcuff burns on her wrists.

It was quite obvious she wasn't used to being kidnapped. So anyone could imagine what her face looked like when two teenagers with wings sticking out of their backs dropped down from the ceiling.

Max took long strides towards the chair and made quick work of the straps holding the woman. As soon as the gag was off the woman took in a breath to start screaming, but before she could Max silenced her by hitting a pressure point on the back of her neck.

"What the hell was that?" I demanded as Max draped the woman's arm across her shoulder.

"She would've started screaming and our cover would have been blown. Besides, this way we can dump her in a hotel with a couple hundred and forget about her." Max said.

"That's cold, even for you." I told her with a slight smirk. Max just shrugged and smirked back.

That's when the red lights started flashing and the horns started blaring.

"I guess it's time to leave." I said as we looked up at the red lights.

"Shall we?" Max asked, motioning to the air-duct above us as best she could with a woman on her back.

"Ladies first." I told her, flashing a smile and bowing to her in an over-the-top way.

Max laughed and shot up into the vent. I followed and within fifteen minutes we were with the Flock, running for our lives with a stranger we found strapped to a chair.

Yep. Just another day in the life of us bird-kids!

**AN:** Hi! Chapter one, hope you liked it! Let me know what you think of Fang's POV, okay? I need feedback! R&R! -Owl.


	3. Meeting Dr Brigid Dwyer

_**Maximum Ride - Episode 2: Meeting Dr. Brigid Dwyer**_

"We can't just leave her somewhere." Fang insisted and Spike nodded from beside him.

"But we can't risk her seeing us again. As is she'll be telling people about us!" I said, looking at the woman passed out on one of our three beds.  
After we escaped we had to sneak into the bar at the hotel and then walk back out so we could tell the guy at the desk that she was our aunt and she had to many drinks. I had planned on dropping her off at some smaller hotel with a couple hundred bucks and then getting as far away as possible, but the others had problems with that.

"Come on, Max. Itex is a big part of the School! They had her tied up for a reason, maybe she's another mutant that's been on the run, like us." Nudge said, from her place beside the bed with the other kids.

"Nah, she's human. If she were some kind of mutant I would've been able to smell it." Total said, sniffing around the ladies feet.

"See? She's human. And she probably just saw something she shouldn't have. Now that they know we're around they won't be worried about her. We should pack up and head home before they find us." I stated firmly.

"But why hold her, then? Why not just shoot her on sight and be done with it? The School wouldn't risk exposure like that. She's obviously a threat to them, which means she could be a useful ally to us." Spike said, her voice as smooth and sweet as honey.

"Well, now we have to talk to her because she's awake." Iggy spoke up for the first time, turning everyone's attention to the woman on the bed.  
Her eyes were closed, but her breathing was faster and her muscles didn't look as relaxed as they did before.

"You can stop faking now. We know you're awake." Angel chirped, reading the new comers mind, no doubt.

"Yeah, Iggy's never wrong!" The Gasman added. I slapped him over the head for using names and he slinked away, rubbing the back of his head.  
The woman opened her eyes and then pushed herself up to a sitting position, staring at all of us with wide eyes. She stammered and looked at each of us for a moment as she tried to back up on the bed.

"Y-y-your just kids! W-who are you? What do you want?" She demanded, looking pretty scared, but something about her just made me... cringe.

"Relax. I'm Max. This is my Flock: Fang, Spike, Iggy, Nudge, The Gasman, Angel and then we've got Total over there, but he agrees with me when I say _this is a bad idea_!" I said, growling the last part at Fang and Spike as I stalked over to join Total by the window.

"Sorry about her. Us being in one place for so long puts her on edge." Fang told the woman in his quiet rumble of a voice.

"We just want to know why you were a prisoner in the Itex headquarters. They're a dangerous group." Spike said, eying our guest carefully.

"And how do I know that you're not just as dangerous?" The woman asked, fear dominating the emotions reflecting from her eyes.

"You don't. In fact you should probably know that we're even more dangerous then they are. But Fang and Spike here won't hurt you. I, on the other hand, will make no such promises." I told her, getting a disapproving glare from Fang and a snicker from Iggy.

"How about a name? It would be nice if we could call you something." Fang suggested, but his eyes stayed on me.

"Well, my name is Dr. Brigid Dwyer." The woman said, lifting her chin a bit in an attempt to look noble or sophisticated. I rolled my eyes. "And I demand to know where I am and what you want with me this instant!" She continued, sweeping up a tiny bit of courage to actually ask for something.

"You're not very good at being intimidating, are you?" I asked, earning another glare from my wonderful second-in-command bird-boy.

"We don't want anything and you're in a hotel on the East side of the city." Fang said, offering ' ' a hand up from the bed.

"But, again, we would like to know why you were tied up in an interrogation room." Spike slid back into the conversation as took Fang's offered hand and stood up.

"Well, I suppose there's no harm talking to the people who saved me. Thank you, for that, by the way. I'm... very appreciative." She said, looking into Fang's eyes.

My eyes narrowed. was about six inches shorter then Fang, so she didn't have to look all the way up to see into his eyes like I had too, being an entire foot shorter. She was slim, for a human, with perfect curves around her hips and chest. Her legs were long, hair was obviously well cared for, her hazel eyes were framed by perfectly-plucked eyebrows. She was pretty much the exact opposite of me. And she was beautiful.

"Max did most of the work. I just came along for fun." Fang said, dropping her hand like he had just realized he'd still been holding it.

"Well, still. You put yourselves at some great risks just to save me." smiled shyly as a faint blush rose on her cheeks.

"If you two are done." Spike interrupted, stepping between the two with her back to Fang. "You were going to tell us what you were doing in Itex strapped to a chair."

"Well, I don't know why, exactly. They wanted me to do something for them, but that was just what I over-heard through the door. You saved me before they had the chance to interrogate me." said, smiling slightly.

"Is there something you could've done for them? I mean, are you some special scientist or something?" Spike questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe. I finished high school when I was just fourteen and I have three different four-year degrees in various sciences." told us.

"Well, that's not it at all." I exclaimed, sarcasm dripping from my voice. Angel giggled a little and Gazzy and Iggy snickered.

"But why? What could I do for them?" asked, frightened and confused. I let out an aggravated huff and stood up from the chair.

"Simple, they want you to be another whitecoat." I told her gruffly, cracking open a water bottle and pulling out the aspirin. _"My head hurts."_ I thought, pouring out six pills from the small bottle and downing them easily.

"That's to many!" suddenly shouted, making me choke on my water. She quickly rushed over and started fussing about me over-dosing, but I pushed her away.

"Relax!" I said loudly so she would hear me over her own ranting. "We can take twice to three times as much as you human's can. It's how our bodies work, ask Spike, she's the doctor." I mumbled like a drunken sailor as I swayed over to my chair and flopped back into it.

I could feel Fang's calculating gaze fixated on me and 's confused one looking from me to the others and then back to me.

"What do you mean, 'as much as you human's'?" She asked, but then her face lit up with realization as she remembered Fang and I from last night. "W-what are you?" She whispered, obviously to shocked to use any sort of manners.

"Well, Iggy, Gazzy and I are demons, Fang's a woodland fairy, Spike's a vampire goddess, Angel's an angel that we keep around just 'cause she's so garsh-darn cute and finally there's our leader: Total, lord of the underworld. We've come to help him find a new host-body before the seven-year-period ends." I said, my face completely straight and totally serious.

's face paled and her eyes widened in terror. Her eyes darted around from me to Fang and then back to me and then around to the others like she was having an internal dispute over whether this were real or a dream and then...

She fainted.

"Max!" Spike said after staring at for a moment.

"What? I was just kidding around!" I defended, smirking at how hilarious this whole thing was, but Fang did not look amused.

"Well it's not funny." He snapped, picking up and putting her back on the bed. "What on earth would drive you to do such a thing? I mean, woodland fairy?! Come on! Spike got to be a vampire goddess for crying out loud!" He complained, making me crack up in a laughing fit.

Soon enough everyone was laughing about the whole thing and wasn't waking up so we decided to get some room-service for breakfast since it was already five-thirty in the morning.

came to about a quarter to noon and she tried to scream, but I slapped my hand over her mouth and we explained that I had just been kidding about the whole new-host-body-thing... Sort of.

After that we really had no choice but to show her our wings and explain what Itex was doing to help the School and basically our whole life story in a nutshell. By the end she was pretty mind-blown and speechless, which I didn't exactly mind, but then Nudge pointed out that we still needed some answers from her and she started talking again. Grr.

"So is there anywhere we can drop you off? Your house or a friends place, maybe?" Spike suggested, finally getting to the part where we dump the chick and leave!

"Before I was captured I was preparing for a trip. I was going to Antarctica with a research team to do research on the land, the air, the animals. I was really excited about it, but the night before I was supposed to get on the plane I was attacked in my home. I don't know how long it's been since then, or if anyone even knows if I'm still alive." said worriedly.

"Where were you when that happened?" Fang asked, leaning against one of the bed posts.

"We agreed to meet in Argentina and set sail from there. But I as I said before, I missed my flight. To answer your question, though, I was in Virginia at the time." explained.

"And when were you supposed to meet these people?" I asked, thinking that maybe, just maybe, we could make it to Argentina and drop her off before they left.

"We were going to set sail on the thirteenth." said. My face dropped.

It was the fourteenth.

"You've gotta be shitting me." I grumbled in the emo corner as Fang and Spike continued the conversation with , Long and Flowy Hair.

"I can call one of them. It's a long shot, but they might have stayed behind out of worry for me." said hopefully.

"Well, it's the only chance we've got." Spike said, looking over at me as I continued to sulk in my dark, cloudy corner.

"Make the call and then we'll decide where to go from there." I sighed as Fang nodded and handed the phone to her.

nodded and started dialing. As she waited for someone to pick up Fang, Spike and I drifted over towards the bathroom and front door where we could talk without being over-heard.

"So what are we gonna do?" Spike asked.

"I still think my idea would be best." I told them. "She goes into the bathroom, we drop a couple hundred on the bed and jump out the window. Problem solved."

"Max." Fang said. "We can't just ditch her. I know we need to get out of here as soon as possible, but we also need to make sure that they don't get a hold of her again. We don't know what they wanted her for and that could become a huge problem for us."

"It's a huge problem now!" I hissed quietly. "It's cold, I know, but we don't really have the choice right now. Itex is powerful and staying this close to them is the stupidest thing we have ever done!"

"Not to mention, how are we supposed to go anywhere with her? It's not like she can fly and using public transportation would just be asking for it." Spike admitted.

"See what I mean? It's more trouble then it's worth. She's a grown woman, she should be able to get home with a couple hundred on her own." I told them.

"Yeah, you're right, but how do we break it to her? She doesn't seem very emotionally stable to me." Fang agreed easily.

"You don't think anyone's emotionally stable." Spike quipped at the emotionless rock beside her.

"Not true. I believe Max is emotionally stable... Sometimes." Fang said, his stone-like face softening a bit as a smirk tugged at his lips. I rolled my eyes.

"We don't." I said, returning to the previous question. "Like I said, next time she uses the bathroom, we're out of here."

The others nodded. We all felt guilty, but it would be better for everyone, not just us, if we left Miami Florida for a long while.

"Great news!" exclaimed, rushing over to us. "My team is here in Florida! One of them offered everyone a place to stay at her beach house here after they got a call asking for a ransom!"

"That doesn't sound like the School at all." Spike murmured.

"Well, who cares? The beach house is about an hour away, let's go!" said excitedly.

"Wait a minute, we have to back up our stuff. After your with your friends we're heading out." I told her, motioning for the others to get their things.

"You're leaving?" asked, her eyes looking a little sad. "But, you'll come meet my friends, won't you? I'm sure they'd love to meet you and hear about you!"

_"Is this because we saved you, or because they want to see if we'd be okay with some tests before we go on our way?"_ I thought bitterly.

Meeting a team of scientists was not on my list of things to do, so I just nodded and went to get my pack from on top of my bed.

To get to the beach house pointed us to we took one of those trains/subway type things and then walked from the station to the street it was on. Once we were on the property we could hear voices coming from behind the large looking house.

"Come on, they're waiting for us!" said, walking up to the front door, but I stayed where I was and my Flock stayed by me.

When she realized we weren't following, turned around and looked at us in confusion. She came back over with a worried look on her face.

"What's wrong? Aren't you hungry? I'm sure they have plenty of food." said, smiling at us in a friendly way.

"Sorry, -" I started, but was interrupted by her.

"Oh, don't be so formal! I'm only twenty-four! Call me Brigid." She said, her smile brightening.

"Right. Brigid, we're gonna get going. You're safe now, so there's no reason for us to stick around." I said.

"What? But you must come in! You saved me, at least let me get you something to eat!" Brigid insisted.

"Sorry. But it's time we disappeared." I told her.

With that, Fang's hand came down and hit a pressure point on the back of her neck. Brigid fell into Spike's shoulder and the two brought her over to the doorstep with me in the lead.

They gently placed her on the door mat and I rang the door bell, sending all of us into the air in a flurry of feathers and wings.

We watched a man open the door and find Brigid. His eyes widened at the sight of her and he called into the house for help as he pulled her up into his arms and brought her inside, kicking the door closed behind him.

"You think they'll be safe?" Angel asked, sweet and caring as always.

"I don't know, Ange." I sighed. "But if they're not, then I can guarantee you we'll be seeing them again." Turning to everyone with a more cheerful look on my face, I smiled.

"Now, let's head home. My mom's gonna kill us for being late."

**AN:** I liked this chapter, kinda boring though. It's one of the chapters that's fun to write, but the only reason you need it is for the sake of the plot. Anyways, in case you haven't noticed, the POV's will be switching off between Fang and Max in this story. I wonder who I should chose for the next chapter?... Tell me what you think! R&R! -Owl.


	4. 99 Bottles Of Beer

_**Maximum Ride - Episode 3: 99 Bottles Of Beer**_

"Lay off the horn!" I shouted over the blaring noise as I swatted at Nudge's arm to force her back into her seat.

"Sorry." She said, plopping down in the back of the old van. "But it's just so fun! It sounds like an 80's party!"

I just grunted and looked up to see a thankful looking Fang and the never-ending highway.

After ditching Brigid and her team of scientists we had attempted to head home, but once we got in the air we were almost immediately spotted by an Itex helicopter. We escaped and then went online to see if Nudge could find out what was going on. We found a news report about Itex celebrating it's 55th birthday with an air-show a month early so the owner could be in Florida for the celebration.

What a bunch of bull shit.

In the end we found a dump and Nudge managed to scrape together an old car with a little help from everyone. To bad she decided that the only car with any potential in it was an 70's disco van, transformed from a Skiers Nightmare into a Party Bus with a disco ball and everything.

In the back there were benches lining the side walls and Spike stayed there with the kids. Nudge was by the front, looking out my window and chatting with Angel who sat next to her. The guys were opposite of them, looking bored, which worried me. And Spike was in the back corner with her smelly plastic bag and her car-sickness. Total was back there too, patting at her leg in a comforting way.

I glanced over at Fang, who had taken his turn driving, and then turned back to the laptop that I had in front of me.

"There's an old diner just off the next exit. Lets get something to eat there and then find a place to crash." I decided. It was still a little early, but the kids were obviously cramped and the smell of Spike's puke was starting to make it's way towards the front. And, on the plus side, I could take a minute and call my mom.

We all crammed into a small booth at the back of the diner and a kind, older woman came to serve us. She didn't even give us the stink-eye when she heard our order.

When we finished our meal and were looking for a place to stay the night on our handy laptop, the same woman came over and informed us that they were a bed and breakfast. She told us that if we bought dinner and a room for one night we would get breakfast free.

I thanked her and asked her to prepare one room for us, leaving quite the generous tip. First she was nice and then she offered us a place to stay, I liked this woman. She kinda reminded me as an older version of Mom.

Once in the room the first thing we did was sort out who was sleeping where. The end of this conversation ended up with Nudge, Gazzy and Angel crammed into the bed sense they were the smallest. We were able to bring two cots into the room and Spike just kind of took some aspirin and then flopped down on one of them, so she and Iggy each got one of the cots, leaving Fang and I to the floor with Total.

Later that night, at about two in the morning, I woke with a start and sat up. Swinging my arm around to my mouth, but before I could dig my teeth into the sensitive flesh to keep from screaming, a hand grabbed my arm and the other covered my mouth.

"Don't you dare." Fang growled softly so he wouldn't wake the others. After he saw that I was calm, he released me and sat down next to me.

"What are you doing up?" I asked, not too worried about anyone hearing us. My kids could sleep through a tornado and singing munchkins.

"I could hear you squirming around in your sleep." Fang said bluntly, making me wince a little. "You know you're going to have to talk about it sometime." Fang added a little more gently this time.

"It wasn't that bad. I don't need to worry the kids by talking about it." I told him stubbornly after a long moment and turned my head away from him.  
It was silent for a long time. I almost thought Fang had given up and gone back to bed. But then his finger wrapped around my chin and forced me to look up at him. He was closer and taller, so looking up into his eyes strained my neck a bit, but not enough to be a problem.

"The kids are asleep." He whispered, sending a shiver down my spine. "What did they do to you, Max?"

"Like I said, it wasn't much. Not as bad as the School, anyways." I began with a sigh. "When I came to, I was in this room and I talked to the director, you know this part. After that they locked me in a dungeon cell and chained me to a wall. The cell was made of stone and really cold. I didn't get any food or water for about four or five days and then Jeb came for me and the tournament against Omega started. Like I said, no big deal." I told him, skimming over what had happened back in Germany.

"If you're sure." Fang finally relented in his quiet, but deep voice. Then he placed his hand on my shoulder. "Just remember that I'm here if you want to talk." He told me, bringing a small smile to my face.

"Thanks." I murmured. We lapsed into a comfortable silence after that, just enjoying the quiet. That is, until a question started bugging me.

"Did you know it wasn't me. The other Max, I mean. Angel showed me those mental images and everything..." I asked.

"Yeah, I knew."

"When?"

"Right away." Fang smirked.

"How? We looked identical. She was even wearing my clothes!" I asked, disbelieving.

"Well, there were a few differences. She didn't smell like you, she didn't act like you, she didn't have that natural grace you have, she didn't have you scars..." He listed, trailing off as his thumb lightly brushed over the scar that ran across my nose and the centers of my cheeks. "But if you're asking for the exact time of when I figured it out, there was something that stuck out among all the other things." He added softly.

"What was it?" I asked, wanting to know. Fang suddenly grinned at me and my chest constricted.

"She offered to cook breakfast."

A second later we were rolling on the floor, laughing our heads off. The others groaned, turning on lights and throwing pillows at us for waking them up, but we just kept laughing. We leaned on each other as it died down and then we continued to apologize to our annoyed Flockmates as they glared at us.

The next morning we got up and we ate our free breakfast that was already waiting for us when we got downstairs.

It was a wonderful meal and I left another tip for the woman who had served us. Before we took off I called my mom using the diner's phone. I quickly put in her number and then waited as it ringed once... twice... three -!

"Hello?" Ella's voice filtered through the phone and I smiled.

"Hi, Ella. It's Max." I said. "Is Mom there?"

"No, sorry. She's at the store. But she'll be really happy that you called! We've all been so worried!" Ella exclaimed.

"Yeah, sorry about being late, we ran into a bit of a... Problem." I concluded. "But we're on our way back and should be there in maybe a day or so."

"Okay, great! I'll tell Mom. She'll be happy to see you guys again. I think she likes having a full nest." Ella laughed.

"Well, of course her nest is full! It's got my nest inside of it!" I told her, making her laugh harder. "We'll be home soon, Ella. I'll see you then, Okay?"

"Yep! See ya later!" Ella chirped excitedly.

"Okay, Ella. Bye." I said and then I placed the phone back on it's stand.

I turned to the others and nodded. "Let's go." I said, ushering everyone out the door and to the car. Everyone groaned as we buckled back into our seats.

"Anyone up for a song of 99 bottles of beer." Fang suggested. I opened my mouth to say 'no', but then I looked at the others and shrugged.  
So as I started the car and pulled out of the parking lot, we all burst into song.

"Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around! Ninety-eight bottles of beer on the wall!..."

By the time the sun was setting we were nearly out of Texas, but we needed food and sleeping in the car would be close to impossible, so we stopped at the first Sleazy Mart we could find and grabbed anything that looked like actual food.

After that we found a park and climbed a tree, situating ourselves out on the thick branches and ruffling up our feathers against the cold, night air.  
Nudge and Angel whispered quietly as a family of deer cautiously entered the park. There were four, A dad, a mom and two babies. Even the guys enjoyed watching the babies jump onto the picnic tables and then try to shove their sibling off. It was quite the amusing sight and it reminded me of when they were little. The simple times we had back in Colorado.

I quickly dismissed the thought, not wanting to make myself depressed right before bed, and reminded the others that it was bedtime. Spike offered to take first watch, saying she still felt sick and wouldn't be able to sleep anyways, and Fang said he would take second, leaving me with third.

As always I was plagued by insomnia and couldn't sleep, but I forced myself to let my aching muscles relax. I don't know how long I waited, but I eventually drifted off into a light sleep.

When Fang woke me up for third watch I felt as if I hadn't slept at all. I hid it from Fang because he would've forced me to go back to sleep. If he noticed he didn't say anything and he left me to my own devices as we switched places.

The horizon was stained a dark pink and violet. Stars dotted the sky at various levels of brightness as the sun's light spilled over the great big canvas. The full moon that had watched over me earlier that night had disappeared and the stars were fading quickly. I would have to wake the others soon and get back on the road.

As I debated on ways to wake the sleeping Flock, I became aware of a humming sound. Like a car that was going really fast. My heart kicked into double time and I grabbed a pine-cone and threw it at Fang's head.

"Ow!" He groaned, scowling at me as he realized what had happened. "What the hell? What is it with you and hitting people with pine-cones!?"

"I'm sorry about the policeman incident, but that was three years ago, let it go! Meanwhile we have bigger problems!" I said, motioning for him to listen as I roused the others. He put it together the second we heard the screeching of tires less then five minutes away.

"Everyone wake up and MOVE!" I screamed, picking up Angel and jumping out of the tree. I hit the ground running and put Angel in the back of the van as Fang came up behind me with Gazzy swung over his shoulder and his other hand dragging Iggy around by the collar of his shirt. Spike followed after us pushing a half asleep Nudge the whole way and Total running at her heels.

They jumped in the back and I ran around to the drivers seat. Throwing myself inside the van as three big, black trucks burst through into the parking lot for the park.

I swung the car around so fast that Fang grabbed the handle above his door and his eyes widened just the tiniest bit. Translation: We're all going to die, face.

"Shut up!" I told him, flooring it as the three trucks slid and screeched on the gravel road. The backstreets were not easy to navigate. Everything looked different then it did in the dark the night before, so remembering which road led to the highway was next to impossible. Why is driving so complicated?

"MAX!" Angel shrieked as we went around a turn and went up on only two wheels. Two of the three cars had managed to keep up, but my eyes kept scanning for the third one. Was it really gone or was it just trying to cut us off like in all those cheesy movies?

Apparently it was the latter because it came shooting out of one of the side roads, forcing me to take a sharp turn that our hippy van was not built for. The tires screeched horribly and we were all thrown to one side of the car as it wheeled around in a sharp u-turn.

"Where am I going?" I asked, glancing at Fang who was sitting in the _Navigator's_ seat. He suddenly realized that I had no idea where the highway was and whipped out his laptop.

"Take the next right and then the second exit should put us on the highway heading for Oklahoma. There are plenty of turn around points that will put us back on the highway for New Mexico." He told me. I nodded and jerked the steering wheel to the right as our turn came up.

"Max, they're gaining on us!" Gazzy said, looking out the window at the back of the van.

"Don't you two have something to throw at them! I swear the one time I need a bomb you guys never have them!" I ranted, jerking to the right again to get on our exit.

"Sorry, Max. We used 'em all up with the last two missions. We haven't had a chance to make anymore." Gazzy explained.

"Then... Do you want to chuck the disco ball at them?" I said, thinking of the first thing that came to mind.

Before they could answer me three more cars, one of them being much, much bigger then the other five, started coming at us from the wrong end of the highway. I swerved to try and make an exit, but one of the first three cut me off and I swerved the other way to avoid a crash.

"LOOK OUT!" Nudge shrieked.

One of the first three cars didn't stop in time and rammed into the side of the van at eighty-nine miles per hour. I felt something smash against my head and then everything was far-off, distant. There was ringing in my ears and I could hear screaming, but I couldn't make out what anyone was saying and my vision was a bit foggy.

"Max..." I heard, still feeling dizzy and out of it. "Max." It was a little louder, I could hear the person who was calling me. They were worried.

"Max!" Everything suddenly sped up again, making me suck in a sharp gasp. Fang was sitting across from me with the door kicked open and his hand was gripping my arm.

"The... Kids." I managed, trying to look behind me as pain started to make it's way through my nervous system.

"They're out and flying. Come on, we have to get out of here before the Flyboys notice us missing from the rest of the Flock." Fang told me urgently, tugging at my arm.

I nodded as best I could and started to shift, but pain shot up my leg and I yelped from the unexpected fire blazing along my entire leg. I looked down and saw that the door on my side had been crushed and the car was right outside my window. My ankle was stuck in between the door and the seat and something was digging into it. Something that was metal and hot enough to brand a cow.

"Fang! I'm stuck!" I panicked, trying to free my ankle. Fang was instantly by my side, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling as hard as he could. It just made it hurt more. "Fang!" I called to him even though he was right next to me. "Fang, there's fire. It's on the fuel!" I told him, watching as the flame caught on the trail of fuel and started making it's way over.

"FANG!" I screamed, realizing what was just about to happen. Fang looked helplessly at the flames and then turned to me with a pained look.

"I'm sorry." He said and for a second I thought he was going to leave me, but that all changed when he shot his foot out and broke my ankle. I cried out in pain and shock, but the awkward angle of my foot allowed it to slip out from between the door and seat.

Fang yanked me out of the car and dived to the ground, bringing me with him as the van exploded right behind us. The ringing in my ears returned with a vengeance, but the side of my head was rested on the hard ground of the highway and my nose was just barely not touching Fang's. I smiled, to relieved to put it into words. Fang smiled back, brushing some hair out of my face.

"Max!" Angel's voice sounded near by and I lifted my head to see her and the rest of the Flock landing around me and Fang. Fang sat up and helped me up to a sitting position so the Flock could see that I was alright.

"Surrender, you are surrounded." Droned a dull machine as we all turned to glare at the Flyboys surrounding us. I staggered to my feet, stumbling a bit here and there, but I managed to get to my feet despite the searing pain that was throbbing in my ankle.

"Just try and make us!" I snarled.

**AN: **R&R -Owl.


	5. Fighting In Fire

_**Maximum Ride - Episode 4: Fighting In Fire**_

Flyboys launched themselves at us, swinging their fists at our heads and kicking at our stomachs. I responded quickly, despite the pain that was being shot up and down my nerves with every small movement.

I ducked under the first and swiped my feet out to trip the next. I jumped up and cracked its metal head on the concrete before turning to face the next one. I spin kicked and knocked it to the side as my heel made contact with its jaw.

Another one came up behind me and grabbed my arm. I brought my fist around to smash it into the Flyboy's face, but another one grabbed it and yanked it backwards, making it give a nasty throb from one of the many cuts that were littering my body after the crash.

"Gah!" I cried out as something hot and metal started digging into my shoulder blade. I let out a vicious snarl, lifted myself up between the two Flyboy's holding me and launched my feet out behind me to hit the guy with the metal pipe from one of the flaming cars. I heard a satisfying thud as my feet made contact with his chest.

I then swung my legs forward and flipped over the two holding me, twisting my arms free from the metal claws on their hands. I jumped backwards again as one lunged at me and then I brought my knee up and crushed it against his face. The second one joined in and I started backing up more and more as the two advanced on me.

I stopped and smirked, feeling the intense heat of the fire behind me. The two Flyboys growled mechanically as they lunged at me one last time, but I jumped up and over their heads. I landed in a shoulder roll and then looked over my shoulder, still in my crouched position, to see the two Flyboys consumed by the flames.

I smiled and turned back to the battle. I was pumped on adrenaline and the only scent that was powerful enough to make it through the strong, coppery scent of blood was the smell of the flaming motor oil.

Fang was nowhere to be seen, Spike was helping Nudge with the five that had come at her, Iggy and Gazzy were struggling with three others and Angel was being attacked by two. One was holding her, the other was hitting her while Total barked and snarled helplessly from his place stuck under a car hood.

I let out a blood curdling shriek of rage and leaped at the one attacking my baby. I grabbed it by the back of the head and yanked it down to connect with my knee. I proceeded to twist it's arm behind its back and rip it out of place, followed by a spin kick to the face. It crashed to the ground, smashed and broken.

I turned my murderous gaze onto the next one, it was now restraining Angel on the ground. I stalked over and kicked its head like a soccer ball. It snapped back, exposing the chest area for a punch that shattered the ground beneath the Flyboy. It writhed on its back, trying to force it's systems, or whatever it was that these things had, to work.

It annoyed me that it couldn't feel the pain like the Erasers could. I finally finished it by stomping down on its neck, snapping it like a twig.

I turned to Angel. She was bloody and bruised with tears forming in her eyes. My mind suddenly flashed out of it's rage and pain induced trance, realizing that my Flock was hurting.

"Angel, sweetie, are you okay?" I asked worriedly as I knelt down to her level and pulled her into my arms.

"I -I'm scared." She whimpered. I stroked her hair and looked over at the others again.

Iggy and Gazzy had managed to take out one of their three and evened out the playing field for themselves. Spike and Nudge had taken out one, but were still struggling with two each. And Fang...

"Angel, I need you to focus for me. Where is Fang?" I asked her. She looked up at me with wide eyes and then she closed them in concentration.

"He's on the other side of the cars with two Flyboys." She said, wiping away her tears as she spoke. "Max, we need to get out of here. Some... _Thing_ is coming and I don't like it."

I nodded, patting down her curls and soothing her distressed mind. "It's okay, Ange. We're gonna be okay, I promise." I told her. "But right now I need you to focus, okay? I need you to go help Fang, bring him back around to this side. Can you do that for me?"

Angel was trembling in my arms, but she stuck out her chin and nodded bravely. I smiled at her and kissed her forehead before sending her off on her mission, after helping her free Total of course.

I launched myself at the closest Flyboy that was attacking Nudge and brought it down to the ground with a punch to the back of the head. I finished it off by ripping out the cords sticking out on the back of its neck. With one taken care of, Nudge, managed to finish the one she'd been left and grinned up at me.

"Thanks, Max." She told me gratefully.

"Don't mention it. Now go help the boys." I said, pointing to the flurry of feathers and machinery.

Nudge nodded and ran off, jumping straight into the flurry. I turned to Spike and saw her panting with two Flyboys laying motionless at her feet.

"Rough day?" I asked, watching her calm down a bit.

"Yeah, little bit." She answered, nodding.

"How come?"

"Motion sickness is a Bitch."

Just as she finished Fang and Angel swooped in and landed next to us, flying low so they wouldn't choke on the smoke. Fang looked a little roughed up, but compared to me he was in top condition, I guess. He looked Spike up and down, noting her ticked off expression, and then he did the same to me, furrowing his brow a bit when our eyes finally met.

"You both look like crap." He told us rather bluntly, letting Total jump out of his arms.

"Well, unlike you, we weren't lucky enough to be on the opposite side of the car when it crashed." Spike grumbled, swatting at Fang's head.

"Whatever. We've gotta move. Angel and I saw more cars while we were up there and their moving fast." Fang said, turning to me.

"Alright. Get the kids and I'll see what I can dig out of the van." I said, already heading for the crumpled and destroyed automobile.

I managed to find two packs that had survived both the crash and explosion. They had been tucked under the seats in the back and I was glad to find that we had the laptop in one of those two and food in the other.

I put the one with the food on my shoulder and then tossed the one with the laptop to Fang as I rejoined them.

"We got lucky. Food and the laptop survived." I said.

"Max, something's coming." Angel whispered, attaching herself to my leg. I listened carefully and realized she was right. Something big was stomping it's way toward us.

"What do we do?" Iggy asked and I growled.

"We can't fly through this smoke, we'll suffocate before we make it half way into the sky. Our only chance of getting out of this without a fight is if one of us distracts them while everyone else sneaks out that way." I said, gesturing to the side of the road we had come from during the chase.

"And why do I have a feeling you want to be the distraction." Fang muttered, glaring at me. I smirked at him.

"Because I'm extremely good at it. It's one of my many charms." I told him and then stepped forward to block the way to the Flock. "Now get going." I ordered.

They reluctantly obeyed, but Fang stayed behind for a moment, glaring at my back, and then finally snorted as he turned and followed the others.

One by one they started climbing over the wreckage that blocked the path and I took a deep breath as the stomping footsteps grew louder. Smaller, quicker steps littered about the larger ones and I started counting feet.

I had just counted up to nine other men, not counting the large, stomping footsteps, when they came around the corner. My eyes widened and my stomach clenched.

There, in front of me, stood a twelve foot tall Ogre. He had greenish-brown skin, his finger nails were black and long and he was bald with two little stubs sticking out of his forehead. He had scars and stitches covering him and he wore dirt colored rags as clothes. His eyes were small and beady, always glaring at everything. His lips rested awkwardly in there natural position because his twisted and side ways teeth stuck out rudely. His nose was big and moved every time he breathed in or out. And to complete the troll image, he carried in his hand a huge, wooden-handled hatchet.

Scattered about the troll's feet were new... things, that I had never seen before. They looked like men, but they were wearing full body, protective suits with matching helmets. They held guns and they all made a half circle around me, pointing their weapons at me.

Were these real humans? Or were they just robots like the Flyboys? I would have to fight them either way, but the last thing I wanted to do was kill a human that can't even defend himself.

_"That is a weakness you'll have to overcome, Max."_ Jeb, my ex-father, chipped in.

_"Jeb, long time no piss off. Where've you been? I haven't heard from you since we rescued ."_ I thought back with a sweetness that could give you a cavity and a stomach-ache.

_"These things will attack you. And you know the first rule of survival. Kill or be killed. Make a choice, Max. You don't have much time."_ Jeb told me, I could almost see him pointing to the guns that were raised towards me.

"I am Gozen." The troll suddenly rumbled. "You are prisoner. You will come."

"Good luck with that, pal!" I spat, putting up my fists for a fighting stance.

"I am Gozen. I am leader. You will obey." Gozen growled and the men-machine-things surrounding me prepared to fire. My muscles bunched, ready to launch me into the air if this went sour.

"A lot of people say that to me, why don't you get in line?" I suggested, wrenching my foot to the side as one of the guns fired off and hit the ground next to it.

I shot into the air, knowing that if I didn't show up soon the Flock would be drawn back here because of the gun shot. I stayed low, trying hard to not choke on the smoke, but as I turned myself around to follow my Flock, Gozen, hit me with the blunt side of his hatchet and knocked me to the ground like I was some kind of bug!

I felt my wing and shoulder pop as the hatchet slammed into my back, but my cry of pain was interrupted when my face made good friends with the highway ground. I felt blood trickle out of my nose and the extent of my wounds from the car crash and the fight were catching up with me. My adrenaline quickly started to desolve, leaving me tired and hurting.

"Ow..." I whispered painfully as I tried really hard to lift myself up to my hands and knees, but I couldn't support my weight anymore. _"First Germany and now this? I haven't been in this much pain since I was living at the School."_ I felt so pathetic and weak. Despite it being in my head, the whimper was real and so was the pain.

"MAX!" My eyes snapped open when I heard someone screaming my name. Fang. He had come back. And so had the others.

"You will stay there." Gozen growled, stomping over so he stood over me. The men turned their guns to the Flock and everyone froze.

"Get out of here!" I managed to choke out as I forced myself to lean on my bad arm while my good one clutched my shoulder tightly. "Go!" I said a little stronger. We were all to hurt to do anything, but they could still get away if they would just leave m- !

"We're not leaving without you." Fang snapped as the others gave determined nods.

"Let Max go!" Angel said as forcefully as she could manage. I knew she would be trying her mind control, but this guy seemed like he was programmed or something. And if that were true that meant his mind was a computer chip.

"Capture them! Capture them!" Gozen boomed, pointing his hatchet at the Flock.

"Go, now!" I screamed, but it was too late.

The guns were fired, thankfully they were just stun darts that would render them unconscious, but that didn't help matters.

My muscles screamed and cried in protest as I ran forward to help them. Sadly, a giant hatchet to the back of the head was enough to put me down and out. I was left on the ground, watching with blurry vision as my Flock fell one by one.

I couldn't move. For the first time, in a really long, long time... I was helpless.

Total, Angel, Gasman, Nudge, Iggy, Spike and finally Fang, was forced to his knees next to me. Fang called to me and I wanted so badly to answer, but my lips wouldn't move. It was like I'd forgotten how to talk. I could see and hear him, for the most part anyways, but I couldn't speak to him.  
I turned my eyes upward to look at my Flock. Total had burns from the car hood. Spike had a split lip, her ankle was red and swollen and her arm had been shredded by one of the Flyboy's claws. Angel and Nudge looked pretty good, but they definitely had bruises and Nudge had a gash on her shoulder while Angel had three cuts on her cheek, like a Flyboy had clipped her with his claws. Iggy had a bad looking gash on his lower thigh, near the knee, and his nose was bleeding, gushing really. Gazzy had blood covering the entire back of his head and there was a gash on his side. And then Fang. He had lots of little cuts littering his body, my guess was from the car crash when the window shattered, his lip was split in two places, there was a trail of blood leaking down his face from his temple and blood soaked his pants-leg from the knee down.

"I'm sorry." I murmured so quietly I didn't think any of them actually heard it.

Until Fang's eyes locked with mine. I could see it, his worried, yet hopeful eyes. But it was my fault. I should have done a better job of protecting them. And now we were captives to a troll named after Japanese dumplings.

I managed a small, sad smile at Fang. But no matter how small or how sad it was, I intended on keeping the promise behind it.

I would get us out of this.

**AN:** Hi, guys. I wrote two chapters this week and I pulled an all-nighter last night, so I'm exhausted. I feel accomplished. R&R -Owl.


	6. Standing In White

_**Maximum Ride - Episode 5: Standing In White**_

My head was pounding and my entire body ached. I had to wonder if this was how Max felt during or after one of her famous Brain Attacks. That got me wondering on how she felt now. She looked awful the last time I'd seen her.

And then it all came rushing back.

I shot up, snapping open my eyes, and then regretted it. I lay back down, rubbing my eyes and groaning softly. The pure white room made my eyes take forever to adjust to the light and even when I could keep them open they still hurt a little bit. Why was everything in the School always that same damn white?

I looked to my side, still laying on my back even though my wings were smushed uncomfortably underneath me. Everyone else was passed out on the floor. I didn't blame them though. What really surprised me was the two packs that had been carelessly left beside Max and Spike.

Growing determinded, I staggered to my feet and crossed the small length of the room to sit next to Max. I plopped down right next to her and crossed my legs as I started digging through the pack to see what was in it.

Snacks and a small first aid kit. That means the other one must be the one with the laptop.

"Why do you think they let us keep those?" Spike mumbled weakly, forcing herself up from the floor.

"I don't know. Maybe they thought we couldn't do anything with them?" I suggested doubtfully. Spike pursed her lips and pulled out the laptop from the pack that was next to her.

"I can see why. It's dead." She said, showing me the black screen that refused to glow with any sort of life.

"Let's worry about that later. Right now I just want to focus on getting everyone patched up." I said, letting my eyes wander back to Max.

She was either stupid, strong or stubborn, but I tend to think its all of the above. How else could she have kept fighting after the car crash and me snapping her ankle? I winced when I remembered that. The last thing I had wanted to do was hurt her, but what choice did I have?

She wasn't just nervous when that fire was coming towards her. I could hear it in her voice. Even if it was just the slightest trace of it. She was scared. And I was too.

"Has anything happened since... You know." Spike asked, her voice quiet and curious.

"No. Not since the Holidays." I murmured, not bothering to look up and smoothing Max's hair down a little bit. "You know, this is probably the best sleep Max has had in a while."

"Yeah. It hurts knowing that. But one day maybe someone will be able to fix that." Spike smiled at me and I gave her a soft smirk.

"I hope that day comes soon." I said softly. "But until then..." I trailed off, pulling out the bandages from the first aid and tossing some to Spike. "Let's get to work."

Spike nodded and came over to Max.

After we had finished and Spike had made a mental list of all the injuries, we sighed, content with a job well done. Iggy had woken up right before we got to checking him, so things went a bit faster after that. I couldn't help but remember all the injuries.

Total had some pretty bad burns, but they would heal with time, along with his missing fur to which we were sure to get an earful. Angel got off easy, but her cuts did look a little infected so Spike was going to keep an eye on that. The gash on Nudge's shoulder wasn't deep and was already healing nicely, so no worry there. Gazzy, poor little guy, had a minor concussion, sixteen stitches in his side and some burns on his back - luckily, his wings were safe.

Iggy's good leg - you know, the one that didn't get shot by an Eraser? - had a deep gash that was just short of the bone and his nose was broken. Spike's arm was wrapped tight like a mummy and she had twisted her ankle. I was covered in small cuts from the shattered car window and had a deep gash just below my knee cap where a Flyboy had stabbed me with a red-hit piece of sharp metal.

And then there was Max. ...Is it just me or do I say that a lot? Anyways, Max also had a minor concussion from a blow to the side of her head, we think it was from the crash, and she was scratched up by the window pretty bad too. I felt a little better when I heard that I had only dislocated her ankle and Spike set it back in place easily, so that's one less injury for Max. Then there was a circular burn on her right shoulder blade, like she'd been burned by a metal pipe from the pile of debris, and then there were her left shoulder and wing. The shoulder had a cut, not to bad at all, but it had also been dislocated and for a moment Spike had been scared that it was broken. After setting that we moved to her wing. We both sighed in relief as we realized that it had simply been dislocated as well. Max had fussed a bit in her sleep when Spike touched her wing to set it, but I shushed her and smoothed out her ruffled feathers and she calmed down (Yes, I take pride in that.).

It was a relief knowing that nothing was broken and Max was better then she looked. They all were, really. Now all we could do was wait.

Gazzy woke up first. It was a surprise considering his injuries and age, but I guess that's why he was Max's little trooper. Angel followed, and soon after Nudge, which wasn't very surprising at all. And then there was Max.

"Why isn't Max waking up?" Angel asked, snuggling into Spike's side.

"Don't worry, Angel. Max is just tired. She's been worried about us, her mom, her siblings. She'll be running around again in no time." Spike promised, not exactly telling the full truth but close enough to it.

"I hope so." Angel mumbled sadly. I didn't blame her for wanting Max. We all knew where we were, it was just that none of us wanted to say it out loud.

I don't know how long we waited, but eventually Max started to stir. I was sitting on the edge of the bed and I shushed everyone as I watched her wake up. I knew she'd have a headache, but we didn't have anything to give her right now.

Max's eyelashes fluttered open, brushing her cheeks as her eyes focused in on me. She let out a soft groan and closed her eyes again.

"You know what the sad thing is? That's probably the best sleep I've had in three weeks." She grumbled, rolling onto her side and stretching out her wings a bit. "Mind briefing me on whats happened?"

"Well. They knocked us out, brought us here. I woke up first and then Spike, so we started checking injuries. No broken bones, but there were a few bad gashes and burns. Iggy woke up half way through and helped us and now that you're awake, everyone's accounted for in the land of the living." I told her. Quick, short and informative. That's me.

"That's good. The broken bones thing, I mean. Being brought here just sucks." She said. Max grimaced as she pushed herself halfway up into a sitting position and then very slowly went the rest of the way, all the while her face contorting in pain.

"How do you feel?" Spike asked as everyone gathered around the bed. Iggy handed Max a water bottle from the food pack and she opened it.

"Like I've been hit by a truck and then attacked by troll." Max answered gruffly, taking a long drink from the water bottle. "Have they given us any food rations?" She asked. I shook my head.

"They left the packs. But I think they just figured we couldn't do anything with them sense the computers dead and the other one only has food and first aid." Spike picked up the conversation. "They probably figured that it would be less trouble to leave our food then have some poor sap come to give us food, only to be knocked out as we escaped."

"Alright. Then all we can do is wait." Max finalized as Angel climbed onto the bed and into her lap.

We didn't have to wait very long because just as Angel wrapped her arms around Max the door slammed open and we all jumped into defensive positions.

"Your avake. Good." The man at the door said with a very heavy accent.

I felt Max stiffen beside me and I risked a glance in her direction. She looked fine, but she had a faint look of recognition in her eyes.

"Hey, Borchty! Long time no see, right?" She asked pleasantly. "I mean, Germany was, what, a month ago?"

"Enuff!" 'Borchty' snapped. "You vill come with us." He said, glaring at us as those weird men-looking-robot-thing flooded into the room with Gozen right behind them.

"Go with it." Max whispered quietly to us so the whitecoat and his security wouldn't hear. "We can't beat them all. Just go with it until we can find a way out of this." She told us, keeping one eye on Gozen.

I gave the smallest nod I could manage and dropped my defenses with only a little bit of difficulty. The others did the same and the guards quickly snapped shock-handcuffs around our wrists. One wrong move and we'd be zapped.

Original, No. Effective, Yes. I should really talk to Max about finding ways out of these things. They make escaping a pain and almost every evil scientist has at least one pair.

We were led through various hallways and eventually came to a small door that opened up into a conference room. I looked over at the others to see what their reactions were, but I couldn't take my eyes off Iggy and Gazzy who were muttering about something and eying the mini-fridge in the corner like one of their proje- Oh, this should be interesting.

At the head of the table, on the far side of the room, was a woman. She was middle-age, brown hair. Average lady. She wore a dress-suit and she glared at us as we were shoved roughly towards the table. The handcuffs were removed, but the guards aimed their weapons at us.

"Maximum." The lady's scowl deepened as she grounded out Max's name.

"Marian! It's so good to see you again! How's that Director position treating you?" Max smiled evilly and Marian's face flushed.

"I was so close to being at the top of this organization. Already I had the power to give Ter Borcht orders. With Omega I would have crushed you! And then I would be the star pupil, not Jeb!" She spat, standing and turning her back to us to look at the mirror on the back wall.

"But then you screwed up, I got away and now you're probably scared out of your wits because your boss is threatening you with retirement." Max continued for her with an icy cold, calm voice.

"How dare you! I'll have you know that I am one of the Senior Scientists! I have power over all those imbeciles at the School!" Marian spoke indignantly.

"You're an extendable pawn!" Max shouted over her. "You can be replaced just as easily as the Erasers!"

"Why you incolent girl!" Marian snapped. "If I didn't have orders, I would have you watch the rest of your little family die and then leave you in a cell to rot!"

"But you wouldn't dare do that because your boss gave you orders and if you step out of line he'll make you disappear. Is that about right?" Max raised one eyebrow.

I kept my mouth shut. Watching the exchange silently like anyone with half a brain would. But I couldn't help wondering what Max was talking about. She'd been acting a little weird since Germany, but I assumed it had to do with starving half to death. But I wasn't so sure anymore.

"Enuff of dis!" The man with the accent snapped me from my thoughts. "Ve vere told to prepare them for inspection. Jeb vill be coming to see them in twenty-four hours. They must be ready."

The woman growled and motioned the guards to take us away. We were all shoved out the door and Gozen followed, while the man and Marian stayed behind and started arguing about something.

After that we were all shoved into showers, thankfully none of the guards 'helped' us, and we were given new clothes. Us guys got shirts with no backs and pants and the girls got hospital dresses with no backs. All of this was white. It made me feel exposed.

Then we were brought to another holding room. This one was different then the last one. Only one wall was made out of the white concrete like the rest of the base. All the others were made of thick glass, allowing us a view out into the world around us. Only we couldn't see anything because it was dark and there was a huge snow storm pounding against the thick glass.

"That's a lot of snow..." Gazzy murmured. He and Angel were next to Max, holding her hand or part of her hospital dress.

"Where do you think we are, Max?" Nudge asked worriedly, joining the little huddle that had formed around Max.

"I don't know, Nudge. But we'll get out of here. I promise." Max told her, patting her still-damp hair down comfortingly.

Max slowly rolled her shoulders and started to spread her wings out. Her wingspan was thirteen feet long and two and a half feet wide. They were thin and sleek, built for speed and silent flying. Her wings fell short of the sides of the room by about two feet, making me smile because, to me, her wings were small and delicate when compared to mine.

My wingspan was fifteen feet long and three feet wide, but I guess that's because I'm a guy and I think I'm older too. We don't really know for sure.  
Max wrapped the kids up in her wings. Sitting on the floor with them and keeping them warm as the storm raged on outside. Iggy went and sat with them, while Spike and I sat next to Max. Total just kind of burrowed his way into the pile of feathers and warmth.

I could hear everyone's stomachs grumbling and felt mine join them, but we didn't have any food because the packs were left behind in the previous holding room we had been thrown inside of.

"I'm hungry." Nudge mumbled and the others groaned in agreement. I think the atmosphere was really bumming them out.

Just then the door burst open for the second time in one day and several carts were brought in by the robot-men that we really had to give a name to.

"You will eat. You must look presentable for inspection." Gozen growled in a deep rumble. He wasn't very nice. But I guess that's why trolls are usually evil in all those fairy tales.

After placing the carts in the middle of the room they just left. Just like that. I looked at Max and Spike, wondering what they were thinking about this and found Max giving us a shrug.

"He said we were supposed to look presentable for the inspection. They probably just don't want us looking starved." Nudge suggested hopefully with Gazzy and Angel nodding beside her.

"Well, lets be careful about this. They could have easily drugged it." Max said, eying the food suspiciously.

"How about this: I'll be the guinea-pig and if I turn purple you know not to eat it!" Total said, scarfing down one of the plates of pasta. The kids started drooling and licking their lips. The carts were stuffed with every kind of food. I guess Gozen didn't know what bird-kids ate.

After about fifteen minutes Total was still wide awake and eating, so Max finally gave in. "I call dibs on the steak!"

We all jumped at the carts. There were breads, fruits, pastas, drinks, meats, vegetables and so much more. They even had some dog food for Total, but he wouldn't touch the stuff.

"Oh my gosh!" Nudge squealed, drawing Max over to her as she held a tray cover in her hand. "It's not even a granola bar its just seeds! Like, _Bird_seed!" She said, making us all turn our attention to the large bowl in front of her.

We all just kind of stared at each other for a few minutes, not really sure what to do, but then we all cracked up into howls of laughter.  
"Yummy! Could I get some worms with this?" Gazzy asked, poking the seeds with his fingers.

"Oh, no, please! It hurts!" Spike begged, laying on the floor with her arms wrapped around her stomach as she laughed harder.

"Wait, are you serious?" Iggy asked, rushing over to the bowl and feeling the contents. "Is this really birdseed? 'Cause, we're birds?"

"This is too much!" Max wheezed. "Too much! Birdseed! Oh, gosh!" She sat up from rolling on the floor and grinned at us. "What's for dessert? Caterpillers?"

We were all red-faced by the time we started settling down and we were all panting from not being able to breath.

"Did they bring any nesting materials? 'Cause I'm beat." Gazzy said, sending us all off into more fits of shrieking laughter.

So in the middle of nowhere, during a snow storm, in a top secret base filled with evil scientists, were a bunch a laughing bird-kids.

We were leaning against each other for support and we couldn't breath from how hard we were laughing.

And, just for a moment, we forgot where we were and what was happening.

**AN:** There wasn't much to this chapter and I'm sorry about that, but it is necessary for the plot so just bare with me! I hope you liked it, I added in some fluff and some funny to not make it completely boring. I actually realized while writing this chapter that I haven't done Fang's POV in like, three chapters, so I decided to give this one and probably the next one to him, but I don't want it switching back and forth to often. (That would make it to easy for you guys! Jk.) Anyways, _Rate&Review_! Please? I haven't gotten a review for the last three chapters! You guys are making me nervous! -Owl.


	7. Dying In Ice

_**Maximum Ride - Episode 6: Dying In Ice**_

We were walking down a hallway, flanked by about fourteen of those robots and Gozen at the lead. Max was at the head of our little 'inner grouping' and Spike and I took up the sides while Gazzy and Iggy took up the rear and then finally the girls in the middle with Total.

They were taking us to see Jeb, but if everything went as planned we wouldn't have to see that traitor's face. Max signaled to us behind her back that at the next turn we would put our plan into action.

As we started to round the next bend Max broke formation and slammed the closest robot into the corner of the wall, busting his head before he dropped to the ground.

I responded and whirled to face the ones behind us. I spin kicked one into two others and then Nudge was on them. With her technopathic abilities she was able to shut them down because now they were completely robotic.

As soon as I was sure that she would be okay on her own, I left Nudge to Iggy and the other kids. When I turned I saw Spike and Max land identical punches, side by side, on Gozen's face, but all he did was stumble backwards a bit and then he took a swing at them with his hatchet.

Max managed to jump over and roll to a crouch on the floor, but Spike got hit, luckily by the blunt side, and thrown into the wall. Her head snapped back as soon as she made contact and a sickening 'Crack' sounded throughout the hallway.

I ran forward and jumped to the side when the hatchet's sharp side came down from above me and crashed into the ground, sending pebbles and shards of the floor flying.

"You will obey!" Gozen roared, hauling the large hatchet up off the ground and towards me. I ducked and rolled again, missing the blade by an inch as it smashed the corner Max had slammed a robot into.

"Cut it out!" Max yelled, ramming her shoulder into Gozen's back. His weight fell forward, following the momentum of his swing, and he toppled over himself, falling to the ground with a hard thud.

"Run!" Max ordered. The kids darted down the hallway as Max helped Spike to her feet.

"Come on! We've gotta get out of here before he gets up!" I hurried them. Spike recollected herself and set off after the kids with Max and I right behind her.

"Max, where do we go?" Nudge asked when we caught up with them at a cross-road.

"Right. It will lead us to the hangar!" Max decided after reading the sign.

"Do you know how to fly a plane?" Total asked as we ran, hearing the thundering footsteps behind us as an alarm blared and red lights flashed.

"Nope, but it's our best chance at an escape." She reasoned, grabbing Angel's arm and picking up the pace.

We came to a set of huge metal doors with a wheel on it, like the wheels on vaults. Max ran straight up to it and grabbed the handle. She strained and pulled as Spike kept look-out. Max gasped as she released the crank and looked at her hands. Even from where I stood I could see the redness of them and when she reached up to do it again, I stepped up behind her. I felt her back muscles stiffen against my chest as my arms wrapped around her and my hands brushed hers as I gripped the wheel's handle.

She relaxed a little when she realized it was me and we both pulled as hard as we could. The wheel groaned and creaked loudly as it turned. Very slowly the doors began to unlock and open.

"Guys, hurry up!" Spike said, still keeping lookout as we finished turning the wheel once.

"That's enough for us to get through." Max said, jumping down and grabbing Angel's arm again. She led the kids into the hangar and Spike and I followed quickly.

"What kind of hangar is this? I don't see a plane anywhere!" Gazzy exclaimed, looking a little disappointed.

"It's the storm." Max said, pointing to the other side of the hangar where it was open. "Before when we saw it through the glass, it was strong enough to carry off the planes so they probably moved them all to a closed hangar."

"Well, what do we do now?" Angel asked.

"Let's start by shutting this." Spike grounded out through gritted teeth as she used her shoulder to shove the metal doors shut. Max and I ran over immediately and together we managed to close them. The wheel automatically turned and locked the doors once it was closed.

"Okay, that should buy us a few minutes." I stated after it was securely shut. I turned to Max to see her biting her thumb-nail before her eyes lit up with an idea.

"The radio room." Max murmured, her eyes catching sight of a small window at the side of the hangar. "Radio rooms always have extra supplies in case of emergencies." Max told us and then she whipped around and ran off to the radio room.

We followed after her, knowing we had nothing to lose considering we'd already lost the laptop and everything else we'd taken with us. Good thing Angel left Celeste at home.

Max kicked open the door to the control room and started searching through the cabinets, pulling out anything that could be of use. By the time we finished tearing the room apart we could hear pounding on the metal doors and Angel was trembling with fright.

In the end we were left with a large duffel bag, a first aid kit, some emergency food, a couple of white winter coats, multiple pairs of white winter boots and two blankets.

"Get the kids into some boots and coats while I shove the rest in here." Max commanded, picking up the duffel bag and packing away the emergency food first. "Iggy, Gazzy. If you can make anything with that tool box and these radios, then you blow this place sky high in ten minutes, got it?" Max told them as they shimmied on coats and boots.

"One scorched hide out coming up." Gazzy said, grabbing the tool box and sliding on his knees as he joined Iggy next to a power box.

"Alright, but how do we get out of here before everything explodes?" Spike asked, shrugging on one of the coats. Everyone was swimming in their coats, except for me, it was actually quite a nice fit, but the white killed it completely.

"There's four snow ski's out there chained to the ground and the keys are right there." Max said, pointing to the hook on the wall. "We can't fly in this weather, but we can at least get far enough away from here tonight." We nodded and I grabbed the keys to both the chains and the ski's.

"I'll get them ready." I announced and then I ran off, leaving Max to get the girls ready to face the snow. I felt bad for them. We guys at least had pants, but they were stuck in hospital dresses.

I got to the other side of the hangar in record time and started trying keys with locks. It took about five minutes to get the first ski free and then the rest took less and less time because I had less keys to try as I went along. Thankfully they all had a good amount of gas. Not full tanks, but, like Max said, enough to get us out of here.

It was then that Max came running towards me with the girls, but Iggy and Gazzy were still bent over their newest project. Max threw the duffel to me and I tied it to the handle bars of the ski I was on.

"We've got five minutes after they start the timer so get ready to speed over to them and pick 'em up." She informed me, picking up Angel and putting her on the back of Spike's ski.

"What about that one?" I asked, pointing to the extra ski.

"Gazzy and I will handle that one, you just focus on getting Iggy and the girls out of here." She told me, swinging her leg over a ski.

"Let's get out of here." Spike said, starting up her ski and heading towards the open side of the hangar.

"Let's go." Max nodded at me and led the way over to the control room. "Get on!" She shouted at them as the pounding against the metal doors started getting louder and dents started forming in the strong steel. Iggy jumped on behind me and I looked over at Max, who had Gazzy behind her.

"Go on, we'll catch up." She said nodding towards where the girls had disappeared. I reluctantly nodded.

"You've got four minutes. Don't make me come in here and drag you out." I said and then we parted ways. I made it to the and then I turned back when I heard Gazzy yell.

"YOW!" His scream echoed across the hangar and I slammed on the breaks, snapping my head around to see what happened.

I found a smoking Gazzy and the last ski going flying into Gozen who had just managed to get through the door.

"What are you doing?" Max yelled at me as Gazzy bounced back into his seat with electric energy. "Get out of here, Fang!"

My eyes went to the control room where lights were flickering and smoke was starting to come from the power box Iggy and Gazzy had used. I turned back to the storm outside and floored the gas. Iggy and I shot into the dark snow, unable to see a thing. I threw on the lights and I jerked the handles to the side while hitting the gas when I realized the girls were waiting for us.

"Come on, the place is getting ready to blow!" I shouted over the storm, that's when Max and Gazzy shot past, smelling like burned hair.

"Go, go, go!" Max screamed back at us. Spike and I looked at each other and then I leaned over the handles of my ski to avoid getting snow in my eyes as I followed after Max. I could vaguely hear Spike yelling at the girls to hold on.

But we didn't get to far. I felt the rumbling and I could hear the explosion clearly through the storm, even from where we were. The shock sent snow tumbling everywhere and the wave that followed the explosion sent us all flying, flipping the ski's and sending them off into the dark night.

I could hear Angel and Nudge screaming and it took several minutes for the chaos of the after-shock and the storm to settle down. I peered up, trying to see through the storm, and I could see Angel, Nudge and Spike's figures just a little bit ahead of us. Iggy groaned beside me, but after checking him over we both established that we were fine and stumbled to our feet so we could meet up with the girls.

"Hey! Do you see Max and Gazzy?" I called once we were a little closer. Spike turned around and waved at me, obviously not understanding what I said, but then a caught a look at Max getting hugged to death by Angel while Gazzy poked Nudge, both shocking and annoying her.

"Look over there. That shadow, I think it's a cave. Let's get the duffel and head there for the night." Max suggested as Spike flipped my ski and untied the duffel.

"Hopefully this storm will clear out by morning." Iggy said, holding onto Angel's hand so he wouldn't get lost and she wouldn't be scared.

"Come on, stay together. I don't want anyone getting lost." Max said, taking the lead as we trudged through the snow. For once we had a stroke of pure dumb luck. The shadow Max had seen really was a cave. It was freezing cold, but it was shelter.

We took out the two blankets from the duffel and we spread the bigger, thicker one out on the floor, while the thinner one that was the same size hung at the entrance to the cave like a curtain-door-thing that was kept in place by a lot of first-aid-tape. A couple of the emergency food power bars made up dinner and finally we all huddled together on the blanket, trying to stay warm and awake.

I could feel everyone shivering and scooting closer together to try and stay warm, especially the girls. Gazzy's scorched hair smell filled up the cave, but he was the warmest after getting a shock like that so he was at the center of our little 'nest'.

We stayed that way for hours, each minute that passed by felt like an eternity while listening to the dull, monotonous sound of the wind outside the cave. The cold seeped into our bones and chilled us from the inside out, making it nearly impossible to get warm even among our huge bundle of feathers, fur and coats.

After a while I could feel Max's head lulling against my shoulder and I looked down at her, shifting a little to see her face. Her eyes were half closed and she looked exhausted.

"Max!" I hissed in her ear quietly, not wanting the kids to notice. "You've gotta stay awake, okay? Stay awake for me. You can do that. I know you can." I whispered, rubbing her arms to create friction and warm her.

"I'm so... tired." She murmured tiredly, leaning against me for support.

"Just stay awake a little longer. Morning should be here soon." I said, wrapping her up in my arms as I felt the cold pressing in on me as well. I couldn't suppress the shiver that ran up my spine and sleep was pulling at my eyelids.

_"Max is in no condition to be out here... I have to get her out of here."_ I thought, tightening my arms around her and pulling her closer. If we could just manage to stay awake until morning...

I jerked awake, breathing hard when I heard barking inside the cave and clawed paws padding about the ice-covered ground. My eyes fell on a white malamute that was sniffing at Spike, who was face to face with the randomly appearing creature.

I looked towards our make-shift curtain-door as someone hollered outside. The voice was pretty distant, but the dog obviously heard it because it went running towards the voice, barking loudly.

I looked around the cave to see everyone shifting stiffly as they roused from a cold induced sleep. My eyes shifted down to Max, who was blinking lazily as she leaned against me. She still looked tired, but I was glad to see her awake.

She eventually managed to push herself up into a sitting position and rub the sleep from her eyes as best she could. We all looked at each other as the dog reappeared through the curtain and started sniffing around again. It paused for a moment when it came to Total, but then it kept going on to the rest of us.

"You guys see the dog too, right?" Spike asked sleepily, watching the dog through half-closed eyes. We all nodded - except Iggy - with various expressions on our faces.

"Oh my gosh!" A voice exclaimed and we all snapped our heads around, squinting as we looked up at the figure at the front of the cave. The morning sun was right behind it, so making out the persons face was next to impossible, but her voice sounded awfully familiar.

"It's you again!" She said again as two more, taller, figures stood behind the first, shading the figure from the sun.

The first thing that caught my eye was her long, bright red hair.

Dwyer.

**AN: **Hey, guys! Hope you liked the chapter! I think I did a better job with this one, but I'm working through a really bad case of writers block. I hope it will be gone soon so I can finish this story before the summer ends. Anyways, I need REVIEWS! Please? Just one? Maybe two with sugar on top? R&R! -Owl.


	8. Stranded In Antarctica

**_Maximum Ride - Episode 7: Stranded In Antarctica_**

"Where are we going?" I asked from the back of a truck with special ski's on it so it could drive through snow. "And why don't you tell us where we are while you're at it?"

I was stuck in the backseat, smushed between Angel, with Total in her lap, and Gazzy while Nudge and Iggy got the window seats. Spike had the window seat on the passengers side in the front, Fang was next to her, getting all chummy with who sat next to him and then there was Paul. He was driving. And Bryan, Paul's twin brother, was in a smaller ski-like automobile with Akila the malamute that had licked us awake.

"You're in Antarctica." Paul chuckled, looking at me through the rear-view mirror. "And we're going to our research station by the ocean a few miles away."

"No wonder that Gozen guy was so cranky, he's stuck in a frozen wasteland!" Nudge exclaimed irritably, making Angel giggle.  
"What sort of research do you guys do?" Iggy asked suspiciously.

"Mostly wild life and water temperatures. What we gather from our studies usually ends up in text books for schools." Brigid answered with her bright, white teeth in a smile.

"So you don't experiment with anything?" Spike continued the questioning with one eyebrow raised suspiciously.

"No, not usually. Sometimes we'll do a pregnancy test on the female animals after mating season and maybe test the water for pollution before we start taking temperatures, but that's about it." Paul shrugged, not seeming very interested in the subject himself. "The real exciting part is working with the animals." He added after a moment of thought.

"In case you can't tell, Paul loves animals and so does Bryan. Akila has been their pet for two years now. They're our South Polar Wildlife experts." Brigid told us, rolling her eyes a bit at the beginning.

"You're just a kill-joy." Paul said, sticking his tongue out at her. "You guys can stick with Bryan and me, I think you'll like the penguins."

"Penguins?" Angel asked shyly, her eyes as big as dinner plates and dotted with a billion little twinkling sparkles.

"Yes, we work with penguins quite a bit." Paul said, smiling at Angel's adorableness.

"Max, can we go see the penguins before we leave? Please?" She asked so sweetly I swear it gave me a cavity.

"Sure, Ange, we can go see the penguins." I chuckled as her face lit up with one of the biggest grins I have ever seen.

"You know the best time to come here to see penguins is in the spring. They care for their eggs all winter and then in the spring the babies come down to the water. But you're in luck, we've got a few early hatchers this year." Paul told her as she owed and awed and gasped in excitement to see penguins.

For the rest of the ride Paul talked to Angel about penguins and she beamed the whole way. By the time Brigid called out that the station was just over the next bend, Angel knew just about everything to do with emperor penguins.

As we pulled over the bend and made our way down the slope towards what looked like a cleared away spot for parking, Gazzy tugged on my sleeve. I looked down and saw that he had a pained look on his face.

"What's wrong?" I whispered, not wanting to worry anyone if it wasn't a very big deal.

"Max, I gotta... You know!" He muttered urgently. I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "You know, go!" He added with emphasis, hoping that I would get it.

"Uh, oh." He said suddenly and my eyes widened in realization.

"PULL OVER!" The car swiveled to a stop and we all threw ourselves out of the car.

"What is that?" Brigid asked, horrified by the smell as she plugged her nose. Gazzy stepped out of the truck last, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Sorry." He apologized, blushing a bit as Paul and Brigid stared at him.

"It's okay, Gazzy. Thanks for the warning." I told him, ruffling his hair. He grinned up at me, still blushing and scratching the back of his head, but he didn't look so down anymore so that's what matters.

"Better start walking." Spike said after she explained to Bryan why we had stopped and sent him off towards the 'parking lot'.

"Wait, what... happened?" Brigid asked, obviously very confused about the whole ordeal.

"We don't call him the Gasman for nothing, you know." I told them somewhat bluntly and their eyes widened as they stared at the car, I'm pretty sure I even saw a drop of sweat roll down the back of their heads.

I heard a bit of snickering behind me and glanced back to see Fang and Iggy patting Gazzy on the back and trying to smother their chuckles. I shook my head and started leading the way towards the bright red buildings that made up the research station.

"C-can we g-go see the p-penguins n-now?" Angel asked, her teeth chattering as she shivered in her too-big-boots.

"How about we get you kids some proper clothes first so you're not freezing all day?" Bryan suggested, leading us to the door of one of the smaller buildings.

"Oh, Okay." Angel agreed, following Bryan into the building.

"This is one of the three housing buildings here. It's empty right now so you'll be able to use it for now. There's extra supplies in the closets that you can use as well and then, once you're ready, I'll bring you guys over to the mess hall where we can introduce you to the others." Bryan told us as we took off our boots and shed our coats.

"How many of you are here?" Spike asked, padding barefoot into the entry room to take a look around. The door opened into a small square room, with a bar separating the kitchen from the entry room and then a hall in the upper left corner of the room led to the back where I supposed the bedrooms were along with the closet Bryan had mentioned.

"Our team alone is seven people, counting Paul, Brigid and myself. But there are a few others here for different research teams." Paul said, coming out of the hall with a pile of coats and gloves and scarfs in his arms.

After a lot of trying on and a bit of sewing, everyone finally had something to wear in the harsh weather. Bryan then gathered us all together and brought us outside again to cross the frozen paths that had been cleared away. We came to the largest building and, after climbing up five steps, we opened the door and entered a huge room with tables, chairs and a kitchen to make whatever you wanted to eat.

At one of the tables there were three women and a man. They were talking and eating, but that stopped when one of them noticed us and pointed us out to the others. When the man saw us, he stood up and opened his arms welcomingly.

"You must be the children that Brigid told us about." He smiled at us. "My name is Dr. Michael Papa. I'm the lead scientist of the team." 's eyes were kind and his smile was real, so I didn't glare at him, but I kept my guard up.

"Um, hi. I'm Max." I said, taking his out-stretched hand and shaking it firmly. "This is Fang, Spike, Iggy, Nudge, The Gasman, Angel and Total."  
Each of them gave some sort of motion when I said their name and then Brigid stepped forward between our two groups with Bryan and Paul standing behind her.

"You guys already know Bryan and Paul Carey and Michael Papa. To continue on with the rest of the team this is Emily Robertson, Sue-Ann Wong and Melanie Bone." She said, pointing to each of the researchers. They all seemed nice, but they all had that rabid curiosity of a scientist that put me on edge.

"Welcome to the station." Melanie said, stepping forward with a smile. "You must all be hungry after spending the night in that storm. Can we get you anything to eat?"

"Can I have a sandwich?" Nudge asked immediately and the other kids just sat there drooling a little.

"Bring us anything! We're wasting away!" Total exclaimed, rolling onto his back and sticking his paws in the air for dramatic affect.

I dropped my face into my palm as everything went completely silent. Even Akila, the dog, looked confused. I stepped forward a bit and kicked Total in the side. He growled at me a little and then he saw the astonished gazes of the normal people around him.

"Oh, uh... Haha, Hi..." He stumbled over his words as he stood on his hind-legs and waved at them. Their eyes only got wider so I decided it was time I stepped in.

"Anything would be fine, as long as it's brought quickly." I told Melanie and she seemed a little shaken, but nodded and went off to the kitchen area, stealing a couple looks at Total while she was at it.

"He... can talk." Bryan finally managed, looking more amused then anything else which made me breath a little easier.

"Yeah..." I said, drawing out the word because I had no idea what to say next. One wrong slip and Brigid might remember something from that night we rescued her that she shouldn't.

"Um, well then, we'll just have to pull up another chair." Brigid choked out after recovering from her shock a bit. Total puffed his chest out and climbed up onto one of the chairs.

We followed his example and sat down around the table, Fang pulling up that missing chair and setting it down next to me. Melanie came back with a huge plate of sandwiches and the kids dove head first for the pile. Within only moments half of the pile was gone and they were still reaching for more, but the excitement had settled down, so Fang, Spike and I could grab our sandwiches without losing a finger or such. After we ate our fill cleared his throat and we looked over at him expectantly.

"Now, I'm not saying that you kids aren't welcome here no matter what, but it is very strange that seven children and a talking dog should appear in a cave near a mysterious explosion in Antarctica. Not to mention, you also saved Brigid from those kidnappers in Florida. We need to know who you are. We won't tell anyone that you're here and we won't turn you into the government if you're run-aways, but we need to know before we allow you to stay with us any longer." 's voice was stern, but there was an under layer of gentleness and his eyes were kind.

I took a deep breath and shared a couple of looks with my Flock before standing up and nodding.

"We understand. We can't expect you to let us stay without some sort of knowledge of who we are. So let's just get this over with." I walked out to the center of the room and looked both ways as I rolled my shoulders and began to stretch my wings out in the large mess hall.

I could feel the stunned gazes and hear the shocked gasps of the scientists as my wings slowly extended to their fullest. Their eyes raked across my sensitive feathers and made them tingle uncomfortably. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Fang giving me a soft smirk, silently reassuring me that they weren't going to lunge at me and stab a scalpel into my stomach. At least, not while he was there to stop them.

"My goodness..." Emily Robertson whispered, her eyes wide and her jaw slacked. Brigid looked more curious and pleased, probably because she remembered seeing Fang and I drop down from the air-vent back inside Itex.

I fidgetted uncomfortably under their stares and my wings automatically drew themselves in a bit. Maybe I should have had one of the kids show them, but that could've put them in danger.

"How...?" Was all Bryan could manage as he stared in awe.

"We're not your average kids." Spike told them, shifting the attention of the room to all the others.

"You all... Have wings?" Paul wanted to know, but was hesitant and not anywhere near as pushy as most of the scientists we meet.

"Yep." Nudge chirped, eying the plate of cookies that Melanie had brought out after it was clear that we were slowing down with the sandwiches.

"Can you fly?" Brigid whispered excitedly, her eyes bright with amazement. The only problem I had with it? She was looking straight at Fang.

Fang gave her a small, sharp nod to indicate 'yes, we can fly' and then looked back at me as the questions continued.

"They're so big." Emily commented curiously.

"They have to be. Other wise they wouldn't be able to lift us. We're bigger and heavier, proportionally, then birds." I said, not making eye contact with any of the people staring at me, which was pretty much everyone.

"Well, they're beautiful." I blushed at Emily's compliment.

"Thanks." I muttered, still blushing as I pulled my wings in and ruffled my feathers in embarrassment. Folding my wings in loosely against my back, I sat back down with the others and took a cookie to shove down my throat before anyone could ask anymore questions that would make me feel even more naked, exposed and stupid.

"How did this happen? Were you born this way? -"

"It's a long, nightmare of a story. How about we just tell you the basics and we leave it at that?" Fang finally spoke, interrupting Sue-Ann's inquiry.  
Some of them looked like they didn't know what to say, but nodded and told us to tell them only what was comfortable for us. Part of me wondered if he knew about the School, but I decided it was best not to ask.

And so began the long, long explanation of how we got our wings, what we were doing in Antarctica and why we needed to get home as soon as possible. I even asked if anyone had a good excuse to give their mother for being kidnapped and ending up in Antarctica.

Because I was beyond past curfew.

**AN:** I really hope this chapter is better then I think it is... Anyways, hope you guys liked it! If you did, that's wonderful, because now I can threaten you with not giving updates! Mwahahaha! Just kidding. But seriously would you guys give me just ONE REVIEW? Just one every chapter so I know that I'm not typing these out for nothing! And where are the reviewers from book 1? *Annoyed huff* R&R -Owl.


	9. Puppy Love

_**Maximum Ride - Episode 8: Puppy Love**_

After a long night of figuring out a lot of different stuff, the scientists had learned the basics of our story (the School, escaping, blah, blah, blah.) and it had been decided that we would take the next boat out, which so happened to be theirs. It would dock in five days and we would be dropped off at Argentina. From there we could fly home and start kissing my Mom's ass in the hopes we could get out of trouble for making her worry so much.

The next day, after wrapping up in our coats and getting breakfast from the mess hall, we were pretty much bored out of our minds. Bryan and Paul said that we wouldn't be working with penguins for a few days because they had other experiments to handle, so we decided to take a fly around and see what was up.

We started off just making lazy circles and loops in the sky, but then Gazzy and Angel pointed out a flock of birds that were heading for an island that had steam rising from it. I remembered Bryan telling us about an island that was actually a volcano and how said island had hot springs all over the place.

We swooped down and landed with various levels of grace. The birds we'd seen were resting on the rocks. They were pure white and obviously enjoyed the snow considering where they were.

"Wow!" Nudge breathed, smiling at the sight of the beautiful birds. "You know Angel, I think this is the kind of bird you are. Well, two percent of you anyway."

"Yeah, they're pure white, just like your wings!" Gazzy exclaimed, fluttering his wings a bit out of excitement.

"Not to mention they live in Antarctica and you love the snow. Here's an idea, why don't you go see if you can communicate with them?" Iggy suggested.

"Okay!" Angel agreed happily, skipping over to the very confused looking birds while spreading her wings a bit so they could see them. Total trotted after her, after being released from Fang's arms. I suddenly realized that he hadn't said much all day and made a mental note to check on him later. Maybe it was just the cold. He was a small dog, after all.

Thus began an hour of the kids trying to find more and more virtues that Angel had in common with the birds. Angel didn't really seem to notice though. The birds seemed to except her into their flock after getting a good look at her wings. She could pet them and fly with them and they didn't even flinch. It was pretty cool and Angel was smiling the whole time.

Meanwhile I sat on a rock with a headache and a lot of questions I didn't have the answers too. I couldn't help but remember what Jeb had told me back in Germany.

_"Did he really lie? What would he have to gain from lying about something like our DNA? Does it really matter if what he said was true or not? I mean, what use does it have? And why haven't I heard from Jeb yet? Before I found out he was the Voice he was always on my back, but now when I have hundreds of questions and no answers, he doesn't show up for days! When was the last time I heard from him? During the fight with Gozen? Yeah, that sounds about right."_ I thought, watching the kids carefully.

"Anything you want to talk about?" Fang's voice suddenly filtered through the fogginess of my thoughts and I snapped my attention to him, blinking away the cobwebs that still lingered in my brain.

"Huh?" I asked, not quite sure if I had heard him right.

"Well, obviously there's something on your mind other wise you would have caught that." Spike pointed out on my other side.

"It's nothing. I was just thinking about something the Voice told me once." I said, trying not to lie but also keeping a safe distance from the truth.

"You've been hearing from the Voice again? Why didn't you say anything?" Spike demanded and Fang didn't look very happy about it either, but I just shrugged.

"No, it told me this a while back. I haven't heard from the Voice since Gozen attacked us at the crash sight." I calmed them before they could start freaking out on me.

"Oh. Well, what are you thinking about then? What did it tell you?" Spike asked, facing me as she waited for a reply. I sighed and thought for a long moment. What would be the best thing to tell them right now?

"What would you guys say, if I told you that I knew who the Voice was?" I said slowly, making a complete left-turn with the conversation. There was a long period of a silence and then Fang broke it with his answer.

"I would ask how you found out. And more importantly who it was." He said, the first out of the three of us to actually reply to a question with a straight answer.

"I have a headache." I stated, rubbing my aching temple. "It's Jeb. Jeb's the Voice." I told them, knowing that a lot of questions were about to follow, so I just started answering all the ones I could think of. "He told me while I was in Germany. He also told me that is my mother. And, no, I don't want to talk about it."

Fang and Spike just sat there for a long time. I don't think either of them knew what to say, but I didn't mind the quiet. We sat watching the kids for a long time. As the sun started to descend from it's place in the sky, I decided it was time to start heading back to the station. I stood and stretched the muscles that had been bunched up the entire time.

"I know you don't want to talk about it," Fang started, standing up next to me. "But I'm glad you told us. Because if you start having those brain attacks again, we'll know who's ass to kick."

I laughed at this and they soon joined in, enjoying a moment's peace before heading back to the station. I waved the kids over and they came running. I knew I didn't have to wait for them to catch up 'cause they'd follow behind, so I opened my wings and shot up, hearing the sounds of several pairs of wings fluttering behind me.

By the time we got back dinner had already been served and the mess hall was empty. The kids ran for the food that had been left for us and I noticed the lack of a small, black, furry thing. I looked around and sure enough I couldn't find Total anywhere in the mess hall.

"Hey, Ange. Where did Total run off to?" I asked, figuring she would know. He had jumped out of Fang's arms when we got back and then trotted away. I had assumed he was just going to walk by Angel and Nudge so he could talk to them, but now he was gone.

"He said something about dinner on the dock." Angel said, her big blue's looking up at me as Iggy served Nudge who had managed to get into line just in front of Angel.

"And something about the stars setting the mood." Nudge added helpfully. I gave them a confused look, to which they responded with a shrug, and then shook my head. Let the dog do as he pleases, so long as he doesn't do anything stupid.

After everyone was fed we cleaned up and started across the expanse of snow between our building and the mess hall. We trudged through the snow and I took up the rear, doing a head count every once and a while just to ease my paranoia.

I looked to my right to count Fang among the other heads, but he wasn't there. I stopped and turned around with a huff, searching with a careful eye for any hiding place he could've slipped into.

"Fang, get out here and stop trying to sneak up on me, or I'm locking you out for the night!" I called, annoyed by his childish antics even though I secretly enjoyed it.

"What are you talking about? I'm right here." His voice came from beside me and I spun to face him, but he wasn't there.

"Enough games, Fang. Come out already!" I said, narrowing my eyes at a crate just a few feet away in the shadows of a building.

"Max, I'm not hiding! I'm right in front of you!" Fang's voice came again and weirdly enough, it did sound as if he were right in front of me.

"But I can't see you." I contradicted, looking around to see if anyone else was around and wondering if they could see him, but my eyes eventually fell on the footprints in the snow making a trail right next to mine. "Fang? Take a step forward."

"Why?" He asked and I rolled my eyes.

"Just do it."

Sure enough he sighed and took a step forward, creating another footprint right in front of the ones right next to me. My eyes widened and I tried to focus my eyes on him, but he just wasn't there.

"Fang, I can't see you." I said, suddenly realizing half of what was happening.

"Yeah, I got that. Why?" Fang said and I saw his feet shift so he was facing me. I looked up at where his face should have been and I tilted my head in confusion.

"Maybe it's a new power? What were you thinking about before you... disappeared?" I suggested, really hoping that Fang wouldn't forever be invisible.

"I don't know... It probably happened when I was thinking about hiding and sneaking up on you." He admitted and I gave him a harmless glare.

"Well... Think about me seeing you." I said. Okay, so I'm not exactly an expert on super powers, but this sort of thing is still kinda new to me and I'm doing a pretty good job at not freaking out.

"Hey, Max! What's taking you so long? And where's Fang?" Spike called to me, coming back toward us with the kids trailing very slowly behind.

It was at that moment that Fang suddenly appeared again and Spike jumped about a foot in the air with a very shrill squeal of surprise. Iggy and Gazzy started laughing at this and Angel and Nudge looked confused and excited about Fang's new power. Meanwhile I was stuck in between a fuming Spike and a shrugging Fang.

"That's not funny!" Spike snapped at the boys and they immediately tried to smother their laughter. They mostly succeeded by reducing it to just a few snickers, but Spike still shot them a glare.

"Come on, lets get inside before we freeze to death. Besides, I don't think giving Fang another chance to try out his new power is a good idea." I chuckled, starting my way back towards our building. Angel took my hand and walked with me and Nudge flanked my other side. The boys stayed in the middle and Spike and Fang followed behind.

I sighed as I pushed open our door and warm air washed over me. I removed my boots, peeled off my socks and shrugged off my coat before going into the sitting area and plopping down on the couch with the girls heading straight for the floor whee the remote for the Tv lay untouched for the past few hours. They instantly decided to check the movie channels first, but I blocked out anything after that because I noticed a lump of miserable fur laying next to me on the couch.

"Total? Where have you been?" I asked, eying the small dog curiously. He didn't usually disappear like that so I couldn't help the question.

"Cruelty is thy name, woman! Or, rather, dog." Total exclaimed wretchedly.

"It's Akila." Iggy told me as he walked past the couch and towards the kitchen. He opened the fridge and pulled out two water bottles.

"She won't talk to him." Gazzy finished the explanation as he went to join Iggy at the little bar/counter thing. I rolled my eyes.

"Total, Akila doesn't talk." I told him as Fang shut the door and started taking off his coat.

"But she won't even speak with me in the universal language." Total sobbed over-dramatically. Spike came up behind me and gave me a questioning look, to which I mouthed 'I don't know'. Luckily, though, Angel knew what he was talking about.

"French." She explained simply, joining the conversation, but also keeping an eye on the Tv screen. Some romantic-comedy was playing on the movie channel and Nudge was eating it up.

"What's the problem Total?" I asked. Our pet Scottie in love with a malamute? That's gotta be a new one.

"She won't even give me the time of day." He whined. I had to admit, he looked pretty adorable with the puppy-dog eyes and everything. "I can't blame her though." Total continued with a wistful sigh. "Look at her. She's purebred, classy, important, beautiful. I'm just... a scruffy mutant with no papers, always on the run, hanging out with wanted criminals -"

"Hey!" We bird-kids were all synchronized on that and Total snorted at us.

"Don't kid yourselves. You've stolen countless things, broken hundreds of windows, violated many work places. Not to mention breaking and entering, assault, grand theft auto -"

"Okay, okay. Point taken." I said, putting up my hands in surrender.

"Akila is really pretty." Nudge said distractedly, her eyes trailed on the couple on screen. It was that cheesy scene where everything's just perfect and then some big cheesy secret is released and the girl ends up hating the guy and running away. I swear Nudge had tears in her eyes. I wondered what she would do when the bad stuff actually happened. At the moment they were just holding hands and walking down the beach, but the guy was looking guilty so he was about to say something he shouldn't.

"Total, just be nice to Akila." Spike advised with a smile. "Don't grovel, just be yourself. Except extra thoughtful and polite. Appeal to what she likes. Act more like a dog. You know, strong and silent."

Total seemed to take this in quite well, nodding thoughtfully at Spike's words. I suddenly felt someone's eyes on me and I looked over my shoulder, sure enough, there was Fang. He was leaning against the wall in a long-sleeved, black shirt that Bryan had managed to find for him when we first arrived. He smirked at me and I gave him a small smile in return, but I also narrowed my brow a bit in a questioning way. Fang just kept smirking and shook his head, so I rolled my eyes again and he chuckled at my expression.

"NO!" Nudge suddenly bellowed, almost making me fall off the couch... Almost. "Don't let her go Emilio! Run after her! Don't let her walk away from the best thing that's ever happened to her!"

I laughed a little and shook my head at her, but when I looked back at Fang he looked only slightly amused and... Thoughtful.

**AN:** Oooooohhh. What's Fang thinking? Maybe you'll find out next chapter, but for that you'll have to review! Seriously getting reviews out of you people is like pulling teeth! I do thank the one person who dropped a review last chapter, but still! I want REVIEWS! Please! R&REVIEW! -Owl.


	10. Racing Penguins & Bird-Kids

_**Maximum Ride - Episode 9: Racing Penguins & Bird-Kids**_

The days went by relatively quickly between helping Bryan and Paul with different experiments and flying back and forth between the station and Deception Island we didn't get many chances to be board.

It was day three of our wonderful little side-adventure and had lots for us to do. After breakfast, which was at the unholy hour of six in the morning, we were sent out with Emily and Brigid to measure and examine different ice layers. It was actually extremely boring.

After that we went back to the station, but it was only nine thirty, so sent us out again with Brigid and Paul to take temperatures of the ice, water and air. Basically we placed these miniature thermometer's everywhere and then went back to the station because they wouldn't have the results until the next morning when we would most likely be sent out again to collect them.

By then it was lunch time and we were free to eat all we wanted. They had surprisingly good food for being out in the middle of nowhere. As we were finishing up Michael Papa came in and smiled at us.

"Hey." He said, coming over to us and standing at the end of our table. "We don't have any other big projects for you kids to help with, so I'm afraid you're going to have to entertain yourselves for a while."

"That's okay. I want to go back to Deception Island and relax in one of those hot springs." Nudge sighed happily as she thought about it.

"Alright then. I'll see you all later." Michael waved as he left the mess hall and we started to clean up so we could get to the island before we were sent on any more experiment adventures.

After we were done in the mess hall we all just took off. Total decided to stay behind to try out the advice Spike had given him about Akila and since we didn't have bathing suits, our underwear would have to do. So when we got there the kids stripped down and jumped in, although Angel had to keep her shirt on because she was younger and... yeah.

Spike and I let our feet dangle at the side, but we didn't get in because neither of us wanted to be freezing to death on the way back to the station. And then there was Fang. The stupid, annoying, most idiotic male you will ever meet decided to work on his new power.

"FANG!" I screamed as I felt him push me into the hot spring from behind, using his invisibility to sneak up on me. I could hear the muffled laughing of the kids who were above the water and I could see Spike's feet being yanked out of the water as she ran away before Fang could push her in to join me.

That's when a light bulb went off in my head and a grinned evilly. I slipped down to the bottom of the hot spring, which was surprisingly deep, and then I let myself float there for a while.

Eventually I heard what I wanted: A muffled splash as someone dived in. The water shifted and swirled as a large figure came closer and closer to me. Two hands reached out and wrapped around my waist, trying to pull me upwards, but just as the figure brought me to his chest, my eyes snapped open and I slammed my fist into Fang's stomach.

Fang tried to gasp, but choked on the water and darted upwards the second he realized what was going on. I smirked and followed behind, twirling around playfully in the warm water. When I resurfaced Fang was sputtering and coughing. I laughed and kicked my legs gently to keep my head above the water.

"What the heck was that?" Fang demanded, glaring at me once he managed to stop coughing.

"You deserved it!" I told him.

"Nuh-uh."

"Ya-huh."

"Nuh-uh."

"Ya-huh."

"Nuh-uh!"

"Ya-huh!" Apparently Fang got bored of our childish antics and did something totally mature:

He splashed me with water.

Now being the mature young adult I am, I reacted in a much more sophisticated way.

"Taste my fury!" I screamed, pushing his head down under the water. The quickly escalating battle between us was watched over by the kids who were now sitting on the edge of the pool with Spike and watching us with curious stares.

"Remind me why those two are in charge again." Iggy said, turning to Spike who was standing next to him. Spike shrugged.

"I honestly don't know. But you have to admit they are very amusing at times like this." She grinned.

"Well, I don't like sitting on the sidelines!" Gazzy exclaimed. "CANNON BALL!"

Gazzy sent up a wave that soaked the girls from their waists down and they nodded at each other, before slipping into the pool to chase after Gazzy. Iggy followed shortly behind when Gazzy started yelling for back up and then Spike, before she could escape, was dragged into the water by both myself and Fang.

It turned into a massive free-for-all and by the time we were pulling ourselves up out of the hot spring, we were all laughing to hard to worry about the cold breeze that had picked up somewhere along the way.

Luckily I, being the amazing, smart and kind leader that I am, had brought a duffel bag with a change of clothes for everyone. And as we changed I voiced my thoughts, feeling the need for a thank you.

"Kind? You?" Fang asked incredulously and then snorted at me, but his smile took the bite out of his words. "Yeah right."

"Hey, I could've just brought some for myself and took off screaming 'Run, bitches, run!'." I pointed out, stretching my wings out. That got me a few laughs and I decided that was good enough, shooting into the air. We flew back to the station and landed right outside our building so I could drop off the duffel. After that we went to the mess hall to see what was up.

What we found, shocked us.

Total and Akila were there. They were on the ground, eating out of bowls. Of course Total's bowl had a sandwich and homemade french fries in it, but still!

"You guys see them too, right?" Spike asked, leaning towards us, but not taking her eyes off of the couple. I just nodded my head, to shocked to do or say anything else. Fang chuckled.

"Come on, let's give the love-pups some privacy." He said, walking out of the mess hall. Spike and I looked at each other and then back at Total, before slowly following Fang's lead, still staring at the two dogs.

The kids looked up at us in confusion as we came out of the mess hall, which they were about to follow us into, but Fang shook his head, still smirking a bit over what we'd seen.

The kids just shrugged and Iggy and Gazzy started throwing snow balls at each other, which eventually hit the girls after missing the proper target, which made the girls attack the boys, which made me try to break it up only to have Fang shove a handful of snow down the back of my shirt.

"That's it! Come here, pretty boy!" I hollered, tackling him to the ground and shoving handful's of snow into his face and down the front of his shirt.  
But then Angel let out the most terrifying, blood-curdling, girly shriek I have ever heard in my entire life.

Everyone snapped up to look at her and all we saw was something pink and sparkling zooming past. We followed the trail of snow that had been puffed up into the air and watched as Angel disappeared behind a rise in the snow faster then ever before.

I looked at the others, but they look as confused as I felt, so I started to follow after her with the others trailing behind. We came to the top of the hill and looked down into a wide, spread out area with the ocean to one side. Hundreds of black figures slid across the snow and right in the middle of them was a small, pink Angel.

"PENGUINS!" She squealed, hugging one lovingly.

I looked at the others and grinned. "Let's go!" I called over my shoulder, letting the ice slip and slide under my feet so I could make the coolest entrance ever made to a penguin party.

"Max! Look at me!" Angel called, waving at me from the top of a slide that the penguins had created by sliding down the hill on their bellies.

I waved back at her and She grinned as she jumped and slid down on her stomach. She flew past the others and came to a complete stop right at my feet at the bottom of the hill.

"Cool! Let me try!" Gazzy exclaimed, but he didn't wait for Angel and I to get out of the way so a flew right into and we all toppled face first into the snow, making the penguins squawk and flap their wings.

I rubbed my head as I realized someone was laughing and when I opened my eyes I saw a hand waiting to help me up. Following the arm I found the owner to be Bryan. I grinned sheepishly and took the offered hand. As soon as I was up I turned to the giggling Angel and Gazzy and helped them up too.

"I have to say I'm glad you showed up. It saves me a trip back to the station." Bryan grinned at us. "You can keep playing with the Emperor Penguins if you want." He directed this to Angel and Gazzy, making them grin at each other and run for the top of the hill again.

Fang and Spike came up behind me while Iggy and Nudge split off to run after Angel and Gazzy. I looked up at Bryan and raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, looking around to see if there was anyone else. Sure enough, just a little ways away Paul and Sue-Ann were standing by a foldable table and one of the car-type-things the station had.

"We're documenting the penguins. Just writing down how many there are, what their doing, their size, their condition. Stuff like that." He said. "Michael said you went to Deception Island. I was worried you wouldn't be back in time to see the penguins, considering how much Angel's been looking forward to it." He grinned at the little pink blur that slid in between us now.

She didn't even say hi, she just jumped up and started running for the top again. We decided we better move before we got taken out by a penguin or bird-kid going at high speeds and moved over to where Paul and Sue-Ann were watching.

"Angel made quite the entrance." Paul grinned. "I must admit that was the first time I've ever seen a trail of snow left behind anything but one of the ski's."

"Angel loves the snow and she's always wanted to see penguins, I just never thought it would happen." I explained, smiling as the kids continued their slide-fest.

"They're so cute." Sue-Ann said, before writing something down on her clipboard.

We watched the kids play with the penguins for what felt like hours. I couldn't stop smiling at them. They were so happy and relaxed. Heck, even I was relaxing more then usual. It was like the holidays when all we had to worry about was what movie we were gonna watch at night.

It was really strange, but out in the middle of nowhere, in the freezing cold, we had found some sort of vacation paradise. Granted, I'd rather be somewhere warmer, but it had been almost a full week since the last time we'd been attacked by Erasers or Flyboys or Gozen and his freaky soldiers. It was pretty nice.

I snapped out of my thoughts as Iggy flew up and landed next to us, he turned to the scientists and pointed over to the other kids.

"Angel found a penguin with bite marks on it." He said. "It looks really bad from what she showed me." This sentence threw them off a bit, but I understood that Angel had given him a few mental images.

"Well, then, lets go take a look." Paul said, brushing it off and focusing on the injured animal.

Iggy led all of us down to where Nudge and Angel were cooing over the penguin and Gazzy just stood to the side in case he was needed. Paul looked at the wing that Nudge was holding for him to see and nodded.

"That's definitely a bad one." He said. "Bryan, why don't you go get the truck so we can take him back to the station. I think this bite is starting to show signs of infection." Bryan nodded and left and I leaned over Paul's shoulder to take a look.

"What on earth did that?" I asked, astounded by the size of the gash.

"Hard to say for sure, The marks are too messy to make out what kind of tooth did this, but if I had to guess, probably a -" Paul stopped as a swarm of squawking penguins shot up and onto the ice, waddling away as fast as they could.

"What was that?" Spike asked quietly as silence suddenly settled all around us.

A loud crash sent ice and snow scattering everywhere and we all dived for the ground as, not even ten feet away, a huge creature burst through the ice onto the land. It roared and it's giant teeth clamped down on the thing closest to it: Sue-Ann's leg.

"Elephant Seal!" Paul screamed as Sue-Ann was dragged into the water. Bryan skidded to a stop in the truck and Paul rounded on him. "Go get help! Get Michael and the others!"

Sue-Ann's head bobbed above the water and she screamed, but it was choked off as she was dragged under again by the sharp teeth clamped around her leg.

"Go!" I ordered at Angel and Gazzy who were staring at the red stained snow. "Iggy, get them back to the station! Fang, Spike, you're with me!" I told them, shooting into the sky and then leveling myself just above the surface of the water where I could see the dark outline of the Elephant Seal.

Fang and Spike flanked me on either side as I tailed the ten-foot shadow. "As soon as she surfaces, you grab her." I said.

We flew in tight circles, keeping as close to the shadow as we could. I watched it thrash around in the water and my eyes widened in a sharp realization, but I didn't get a chance to say anything because the seal burst out of the water with Sue-Ann hanging limply in it's mouth.

"Now!" I yelled, swooping down so fast that I barely had time to react once I got there. While Fang and Spike grabbed Sue-Ann, I baited the seal with my own leg. And it worked.

The seal dropped Sue-Ann the second my foot hit its eye and the beast lunged at me. I tried to shoot up, but I wasn't fast enough and the seal's teeth slammed around my ankle, pulling me down into the water. I held my breath and tried not to scream in pain as the seal tossed me around like a rag-doll. The freezing water was so cold it hurt and I could feel the salty liquid flowing into my open wound.

I pulled and kicked and even managed to punch it once or twice, but nothing I did loosened it's grip or eased the burning in my lungs. My vision started to look like a tunnel and I knew in my mind that there was no way I could survive this much longer.

The elephant seal crashed into the air and I gasped partly because I couldn't hold my breath any longer and partly because the sharp, nipping air whipped against my wet, cold face painfully. I started flapping my wings, frantically trying to fly and get away, but they were soaked through and half-frozen. I struggled as the seals head looked back and forth at whatever was in front of it, but I was to busy to look and see.

Suddenly I felt warm arms wrap around my waist and the clamp around my ankle was lifted as the creature roared in fury. And then I was jerked upwards, away from the water. I could see Spike appear right below me, despite my fuzzy vision, and I knew immediately who was holding me.

"Max." Fang murmured, shifting so he could carry me bridal-style. His warm chest pressed against my side and I realized that I was shivering from the cold. I gripped Fang's coat and snuggled deeper into his arms, just trying to get warm.

"I-i-it's-s col-l-ld-d." I chattered quietly.

"Come on." Spike said urgently. "Let's get her back to the station."

I could feel Fang nod and then we were moving. I decided to sleep then, to tired to even think of anything else. Trusting myself to Fang and Spike completely, I closed my eyes and slept.

**AN:** Hope you liked it! Please drop a Review even if you didn't. R&R -Owl.


	11. Waking Up & Setting Sail

_**Maximum Ride - Episode 10: Waking Up & Setting Sail**_

_"Max!" I screamed._

_It had grabbed her, dragged her under the water. I gave Sue-Ann to Spike and flew back to where I saw her go under. "Max!" I screamed again, looking everywhere for the shadow._

_The elephant seal burst through the surface again, Max was hanging in it's mouth like Sue-Ann had been, but she was struggling, fighting, to get free._

_I shot towards her and wrapped my arms around her. Spike was distracting it, flying back and forth to confuse it. I managed to slip her leg free and then shoot up into the sky. Her skin was tainted blue. She felt like ice. I shifted her around so I could hold her closer to me and look at her face. Her eyes were only half open and she was trembling._

_"Max." I murmured, beyond worried for her._

_"I-i-it's-s col-l-ld-d." She whispered, her teeth chattering. I smiled softly at her._

_"Come on." Spike said urgently after checking out her ankle. "Let's get her back to the station."_

_I nodded and we flew off. Max was so cold, I held her tighter to my chest, and I could feel her breath slowing in my arms. I looked at her face to see her eyes closed and her face pale. She wasn't -She couldn't, I-_

I jolted awake, breathing heavily through my teeth. It was early morning. I could tell because the light was a golden color, streaming through the small window we had in the guys' room.

I threw my covers off and got up. I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. Not until I checked on her, made sure she was okay.

I slipped through the slightly opened door, rolling my eyes as Gazzy snored, and tiptoed out into the livingroom. We had decided to leave Max on the couch-bed in case something happened and needed to come in and help take care of her with Spike. But the night had been quiet... For Max anyways.

I sat down on the edge of her bed and smiled down at her soft face. She was wrapped up tightly in several, heavy comforters and only her nose and above was left uncovered by them. I reached out and gently stroked her temple with my knuckles.

Her long eyelashes fluttered open and her head turned up a little so she could look straight at me, but she carefully kept everything below her nose covered.

"Morning." She said softly and I smirked at her.

"I didn't mean to wake you. It's still pretty early." I murmured back. Max shrugged, which was interesting to watch with so many blankets piled on top of her.

"I know. I woke up about an hour ago. I couldn't get back to sleep because my ankle was throbbing, but I didn't want to get any pain killers because then I would've had to get out of bed and I'm cold." She explained, shivering at the end for effect.

I chuckled at her. "I'm just glad you're feeling better." I said. She made a face at me.

"Weren't you listening? I'm still cold!" She repeated, snuggling deeper into her covers. I smiled at her and laid down next to her on top of the covers. "What's happened? Is Sue-Ann okay?" She asked when I was face-to-face with her.

"Well..." I hesitated. "There's bad news. And good news... And bad news." Max's eyebrows raised a bit and then she nodded for me to continue. I sighed and decided to start at the beginning.

"After we were sure you were okay, brought us to the medical house. Sue-Ann was killed by the Elephant Seal attack. But during the examination Michael found a wire imbedded in her leg. She was enhanced. Michael had the whole place searched for cameras and microphones after Spike and I explained it to him." I paused to let her take it in before moving on. "Paul and Bryan have been working non-stop since the attack, trying to figure out why that Elephant Seal attacked us in the first place. Well, they couldn't find any reason why an Elephant Seal would randomly attack a group of penguins, humans and bird-kids, so -"

"They think someone set it off." Max interrupted. I nodded, a little surprised that she knew, but not bothering to show it.

"Yeah. I don't think Sue-Ann was supposed to be the victim though." I said.

"So that's two bad things. What about the good news?" Max sighed, pushing the covers down to her shoulders and stretching her arms above her head.

"The boat that's supposed to take us to Argentina docked around dinner time last night. We're setting sail as soon as you feel up to it." I told her, sitting up.

Max gently placed her feet on the floor, rolling her shoulders. Her back was to me and her thin night-shirt showed off her powerful muscles, rolling and lengthening underneath her soft skin as she stretched. I looked away, decency over-coming my desire to keep watching.

"I'm going to wash my face. Can you wake up the boys? I'll get the girls in a minute, but I want to get out of here as soon as possible." She said, getting to her feet and silently padding across the floor on her way to the bathroom.

"Sure. I'll get Iggy and Gazzy together and then we'll go tell to get the boat ready." I offered, snatching my coat off the rack and heading for the room I shared with Iggy and Gazzy.

"Get up." I said, slapping Iggy's cheek a few times to wake him up and then climbing onto his bed to look up on the top bunk. "Yo, Gasman, time to get up." I told him, ruffling his hair. They both a similar reactions, which consisted of groaning and rolling out of bed. Of course the latter wasn't that good of an idea for Gazzy because when he rolled out of his bed he fell on top of Iggy and the two hit the floor with a loud thump. I winced and leaned over them, unable to help the smirk that was on my face. "You two okay?"

"Wipe that smirk off your face." Iggy grumbled, pushing Gazzy off of him and stumbling to his feet. Gazzy just scratched his head sheepishly and followed us out with a cheeky grin.

Outside the morning air was crisp, cold and nipped at any exposed flesh. To be honest if Max hadn't been able to relax the past couple of days I would probably be on the boat, ready to leave by now. Heck, I might've slept in the boat.

None of us are really that big on the cold, except Angel who adores the snow, and even I enjoy a little fun in the winter, but this frozen wasteland was driving me up the walls. There was nothing but white for miles and miles. It reminded me to much of the hallways in the School that just seemed to go on forever.

I shuddered at the memory and then pushed it aside. I had to find Michael and tell him Max wanted to leave. I don't agree that she's ready, but no matter what I tell her she's going to push herself until she collapses. Lucky for all of us, I'll make sure to be there to catch her. Okay, maybe a little more lucky for me, but you get the point.

We found in the mess hall with Bryan, Paul and Brigid. They were all sitting around a table with scrunched brows and frustrated frowns plastered on their faces. I guessed they were talking about the incident: How Sue-Ann betrayed us all, why a Elephant Seal would attack us. But it didn't really matter to me because either way I had to tell them we were ready to leave.

"Fang. How's Max doing?" Bryan asked, his expression turning more friendly when he saw me at the door. I stepped in, with Iggy and Gazzy following, and took a seat at the free end of the table.

"She's awake." I announced simply. "She wants to get out of here as soon as possible."

"I don't blame her." Brigid sighed sympathetically. "You were extremely brave to rescue her from that rabid Elephant Seal."

"Rabid?" Iggy repeated curiously. Paul shook his head and plopped back into his chair with a frustrated grunt-groan kind of sound.

"It's the only possible explanation we can think of! Unless there was someone in the water, tampering with the wild-life. And even if there had been, that person would have been the first victim!"

"And the Elephant Seal was completely clean before it attacked. Not one little trace of blood that would indicate another victim." Bryan added, flopping into his chair in a similar fashion to the way his brother had.

"Max thinks someone - or something - set it off." I said, drawing everyone's curious attentions to me by accident.

"Well, whatever the reason, this place isn't safe for you kids anymore." Michael spoke up for the first time. "Let's get the crew together and ready the boat. We leave at noon."

Around eleven thirty I was out by the docks with Michael and Brigid. Iggy and Gazzy had joined the girls after getting breakfast in the mess hall. The others were getting ready to leave, in other words, Max was taking away any bombs Iggy and Gazzy might have on them and making sure that Nudge and Angel weren't trying to smuggle a baby penguin onto the boat.

Michael and Brigid were measuring the temperatures of the water, hoping to keep track of the rising temperatures as we got closer to Argentina. Brigid was on the dock, lowering a thermometer into the water by a rope. Michael was in the check-in station at the very beginning of the dock where the wood and land met, signing paper work for our departure.

I stood at the end of the dock with Brigid, looking out at the miles of clear horizon ahead. The water was a dark blue that seemed inviting, even though it's temperatures were below freezing. The air hadn't lost its crisp edge from that morning and if there was one thing I liked about Antarctica, it was most definitely the clean air.

"Enjoying the view?" Brigid's breath billowed out in a cloud as she giggled a bit as she tied the rope to the dock. I looked at her when she spoke and then out at the miles of empty sky.

"Oh, well, I guess it's not much of a view for most people." I said a little sheepishly. I guess this is how Gazzy feels when he has one of his occurrences.

"Hm, I don't see much... But why don't you tell me what you see?" Brigid said, standing up and facing me. There was a smile on her face and her hands were intertwined behind her back, exposing her chest and shoulders a bit more.

"Uh," I swallowed to clear my throat a bit and then continued. "I see freedom." I stated simply, shoving my hands into my pockets.

"I guess I never thought of it that way." Brigid said, looking at the sky thoughtfully.

"Yeah, spending ten years in a dog crate kinda shakes up your perspective a bit." I muttered under my breath. If she heard she didn't show it. Instead she bent down, hearing the alarm on her watch go off, and began to untie the rope from the dock so she could pull up the thermometer.

"Oh, Fang could you get the clipboard over there?" Brigid asked, holding the tool by the rope while I retrieved the desired item. She waved for me to kneel down next to her and once I did she started telling me what to do. "Okay, so this number here goes on the first line." She started, pointing to the numbers on the small screen and then to the clipboard.

We stayed like that for a few minutes, me listening to her and following her instructions. I was somewhat aware of how close our heads were whenever I leaned over to write on the clipboard, but I didn't think much of it.

"Thanks for your help, Fang." Brigid smiled brightly at me and I shrugged. It's not like I did that much.

"So when are we leaving?" Spike's loud and sudden voice right next to my ear made me jerk away from Brigid and look up at her in confusion. "I mean the rest of us are ready." She said, using her whole arm and hand to show us the others at the beginning of the dock.

The kids were throwing snowballs with Total and Akila running around them, Bryan and Paul were standing there watching and Max was sitting on one of the poles on the side that stuck up out of the water to hold up the dock. Max's eyes were fixed on her feet and her hands were playing with the hem of her coat in her lap.

Her head suddenly shot up and she scanned everything around her in a complete 360. Her hands and back muscles were tense, her eyes were a sharp brown instead of their usual marble-swirled chocolate and caramel color. Her eyes swept over and over the sky and land and water. I stood up and scanned our surroundings, but there wasn't anything in sight. Any threat would've stuck out like a pork chop at a vegan convention with all the white.

But Max was never wrong. If she sensed a threat somewhere then there was danger near by, no doubt.

The kids realized Max's change in demeanor and drew closer to her instinctively. Spike got into loose back-to-back formation with me and threw a confused look Max's way. I finished my surveillance and rose an eyebrow at her. She shrugged at us and frowned, her brow furrowed worriedly. The three of us stood completely still, using all our senses to pick out any immediate danger that might be lingering near by.

"Fang?" Brigid asked, looking up at me curiously.

"One minute." I muttered, starting down the dock towards Max. Spike followed right behind me and Brigid eventually started trailing after us.

Something was obviously wrong and sooner, rather than later, we would find out what. But for the moment I could at least make sure that Max didn't give herself seizure.

We reached Max and I reached out, gently touching her elbow. The kids gathered around, Iggy and Gazzy standing by my side, Nudge standing next to Spike and Angel running up to Max to hug her legs.

Max looked up at me, her eyes troubled and her eyebrows knit together. I inwardly sighed. She wasn't going to be able to relax again until she was back home with her mom and siblings.

"Is something wrong?" Bryan asked, looking at Max worriedly.

"Yeah, I -I just had a bad feeling that's all. Nothing to worry about." Max murmured, her breath muffling half the words. Whatever was out there, it wasn't good. And with our luck, it'd be coming for us soon.

**AN:** Hey! What's up guys? Good news: My writers block is going away! (A lot of help that is now that summers practically over. -_-) But anyways, it's been a while since I've done a Fang's POV so drop a review and tell me what you think! I hope you liked it! R&R! -Owl.


	12. Shipmate's

**_Maximum Ride - Episode 11: Shipmate's_**

"I told you to handle the boy!" Ter Borcht snapped angrily at the Director. "Your agent failed! And now we've lost a spy and the bird-children vill be on guard!"

"My agent wouldn't have failed had you not attacked and terminated my spy!" The Director shouted at the man, referring to the machine he had created for the mission.

"Enough!" The dark figure on the glowing screen ordered, making the two wince. "You two have failed me and now you will pay the price!"

"No, please! Give me one more chance, Sir, I'll bring you the bird-children, no matter what it takes!" Marian begged, bowing to the figure and shutting her eyes tightly.

"Silence!" The man boomed. "You knew the consequences! And now you will face them!" He said as armored machines entered and seized them.

"But who vill bring you the bird-children? Ve are not easily replaced." Ter Borcht pointed out desperately as the machines dragged them towards the door.

"You over-estimate yourself, Doctor." The dark figure chuckled darkly as the screaming victims were brought to their fates in the dark rooms of the fortress. A sharp, echoing knock sounded at the door to the side of the room, pleasing the man on the screen.

"Enter." He replied. The door opened and shut, allowing a short man to enter the room and stand before the screen in a clean-cut suit.

"Everything is in place and precisely on schedule. As soon as the bird-children return home we will proceed as planned." The man said proudly, bowing respectfully to the man on the screen.

"Good. I trust you will follow my instructions." The figure questioned him, sounding suspicious.

"Of course, Sir. The girl shall be kept alive and as well as possible. But judging from her files, capturing her might require some...Force." The short man smiled twistedly.

"So long as no permanant damage is done." The figure told him dismissively. "Now go. Proceed as planned and notify me when the targets have returned to the woman's house."

The short man bowed once again and smiled, ear-to-ear.

"I shall not fail you, Sir."

The Wendy K. was not the Love Boat. It had no casino, no swimming pool, no shopping atrium's. It had a small, grey-painted kitchen/dining hall, a small grey-painted lounge with a couple of ratty, built-in couches and a small white conference room with chipped, wooden tables, a whiteboard and book cases with bars along the front to keep the books from flying off the shelves on rough seas.

"This is just like Moby Dick!" Nudge exclaimed, bouncing a bit on her tiny bunk. Brigid had brought us to our rooms as soon as we were out to sea.  
The girls had one room, Total and the guys had another. They were small rooms, but we'd had worse. Much worse. The beds came out of the wall and there were two on each side, creating bunk beds, and the only other thing in the room was the small port-hole on the wall opposite to the door and in between the two sets of bunks.

"They were on a fishing boat and we're on a fishing boat too!" Nudge continued. And yes, the Wendy K. was a retired fishing boat that Michael Papa had picked up for the team's research missions. "Only this one doesn't have sails. And it isn't made of wood. And we have radar and computers and stuff like that. But still, we have little bunks like old-fashion sailors and we eat in the 'mess' and the bathroom is called the 'head' and there's boat stuff everywhere!"

" said we might get to see some Leopard Seals sticking their heads out of the water." Angel said, looking out the port-hole. We could probably squeeze through it for an escape if we punched out the glass. Just a thought. "It's sad because they eat penguins."

"But Bryan says they're just as cool and fun to work with, too." I commented. Personally thinking they were pretty cool animals that I really wished I had the chance to work with while we were here.

"How can they be fun if they kill everything smaller then them!?" Total exclaimed, his ears pressed back against his head and his tail between his legs.

"You can't judge an entire species just for trying to survive. We eat pigs and cows. Why shouldn't they eat penguins?" I asked.

Just then Fang, Iggy and Gazzy came in, squishing into the room with us and trying to find any open space to sit. Iggy was running his fingers along every surface. Memorizing his surroundings, counting how many footsteps it took to get to here and there, feeling out where the furniture was.

"It's small in here." He grumbled. "Can't we sleep in hammocks on the deck?" He asked, plopping down onto my bed next to me while Fang leaned against the wall with the port-hole on my other side.

"Not unless you want to freeze to death in your sleep." Spike told him in the same grumbling tone. I had claimed the bottom bunk before she could, so she was stuck up against the roof. She wasn't exactly happy about it.

"Let's go somewhere warm next." Total gripped.

"Don't you have a fluffy white malamute to drool over or something?" I demanded and Total perked up.

"Ah, yes! My Goddess of beauty and love. Akila, my darling!" Total called as he jumped off the bed and ran out into the corridors.

"Well, Brigid said that lunch would be ready in fifteen minutes. And that was ten minutes ago." Fang told us and we all started getting up and filing out the door. Food was calling our names.

Let me tell you, it was just cozy in the tiny galley, which was so small that Fang had to totally squeeze in next to Brigid on the bench. Just to freaking cozy for words.

Beneath Gazzy and Nudge's excited chatter, I could hear the low undercurrent of Fang and Brigid playing the get-to-know-you game. "You're young for a doctor." He said, helping himself to a fourth sandwich.

"I'm twenty-one." She admitted. "I sort of whizzed through MIT, then got my doctorate at the U of Arizona." She paused, thinking about something. "In a way I know who it feels to stick out, to be different. I finished high school when I was twelve. People called me a freak. Even my own parents didn't know what to do with me." She gave a self-conscious laugh and I rolled my eyes. Gag me with a spoon.

"That must have been rough." Fang said sympathetically, making me choke on my sandwich.

Rough? That's not rough! Rough is being turned into a mutant freak, rough is being shoved in a dog crate for ten years, rough is having mad scientists experiment on you from birth until you finally escape at the age of ten only to be thrown into a world where people either want to make money off of you or kill you! That's rough!

"Max?" I snapped out of my raging thoughts to see Melanie holding out a carton. "Would you like some milk?"

"No thanks." I grumbled, taking a large bite out of my sandwich. It was only then that I realized how dry it and my mouth were and I mentally kicked myself for not accepting the milk when I had the chance.

"So how old are you?" Brigid asked and I almost gagged on my potato chip. She's seven years older then him and they're flirting? That's just so gross!

"Fourteen, I think." Fang answered, taking a drink of milk. Stupid smart person. "None of us know for sure what our birth dates are, but we think that Max and I are fourteen."

"You seem older." Brigid murmured and I shot to my feet. I couldn't bear to listen to this any longer.

"I need some air." I managed to choke out before darting out of the galley and up the stairs. I heard Sue-Ann call after me, but I didn't turn back. Didn't even answer. Instead I ran across the deck and just as I was about to hit the metal railing I jumped and unfurled my wings, stroking hard to bring myself into the air as fast as possible. Soon the Wendy K. was just a small dot on the ocean, emitting steam and slowly moving across the waters surface.

I relaxed a little as I felt the warm afternoon sun on my back and the fresh, clean air in my lungs. Suddenly I could breath again and I wheeled through the sky, enjoying the wind that pushed my hair back behind me. For just a second everything was okay...

...And then I leveled into an easy glide, letting the wind do the work for me. My mind stopped reeling and I took a calming, deep breath before looking down at the dot below me.

_"What is wrong with me?"_ For once the voice in my head was my own._ "Why should I care if Fang's making cow eyes at a doctor who's seven years older then him?"_

I shook my head and flew upside-down in a lazy arch. I decided that me running out in the middle of lunch wouldn't go so well with the Flock. They would know something was wrong if I didn't go back. Hopefully selling the 'got a bit too claustrophobic and went for a fly' bit would work. Besides, it wasn't a total lie.

I slowly started my descent back to the boat. Flying in ever-diminishing circles until a reached the water. I reached out and touched the water, pulling it back with a sharp tug when a chill ran up my arm from the freezing cold. I swooped up above the railing on the deck and then down, setting my feet down on the metal gently and almost silently, had it not been for the metal floor there wouldn't have been the small 'plunk, plunk' sound of my feet landing on the deck.

When I looked up Paul, Bryan and Michael were all standing there watching me. I kept my wings out a bit, letting them cool off as I walked towards the three. As I stopped in front of them I noticed the binoculars in 's hand at his side and raised a questioning eyebrow, but didn't bother voicing the question.

"What's up?" I asked, wondering if something had happened while I was gone. It had barely been fifteen minutes. No one could have gotten hurt, right? My Flock was perfectly safe. They had to be. I had them in view the whole time.

"We were just... watching." Paul Carey said softly.

"Is something wrong?" I pressed, slightly confused by the looks of wonder and admiration.

"No, no. Nothing's wrong. We've just never seen a person fly before... It was amazing." Bryan quickly reassured me and I blushed slightly. Of course they were curious, none of them have seen us fly for _real_. At least, not that I know of.

"Oh, no, I guess you haven't." I admitted sheepishly.

"We're sorry if it disturbed you. But when we saw you take off, it was hard to look away." apologized and I felt a little humbled.

These humans were so different from most of the ones I've dealt with. Sure there was Mom and Ella, but besides that my knowledge of the human race is slim. Unlike the whitecoats these people respected our boundaries and tried to keep their curiosity in check so they wouldn't offend us. Most scientists just wanted to slap us in dog crates and stick needles in us. But, again, these guys were different. It was weird, but it was nice too.

"No! Uh, I mean, you didn't disturb me, I just... needed some air, is all. To be honest, I'm kinda...flattered that you think I'm so amazing." I told them, ruffling and puffing out my feathers in embarrassment.

The three seemed slightly relieved by this, as if they were actually frightened that they would hurt my feelings, what a concept! I smiled a small smile at them and then told them that I had a half-eaten sandwich calling my name back in the galley, so we parted ways until dinner.

I had just started down the narrow, steeply pitched, stairway when I realized Fang was waiting for me at the bottom. His face was set in stone and I recognized the slight twitch in his jaw muscles.

"What's the matter with you?" He demanded as I climbed down the rest of the stairs. "Why'd you take off like that?"

"Wanted some air." I said briefly, trying to brush past him, but he took my arms to hold me in place. Now, because there was just barely enough room in the hall for us to stand beside each other, I decided letting this escalate into a knockdown fistfight would be a bad thing and let him.

"Tell me what's going on." He said. My back was to him, but he had both my wrists in his hands and stepped closer to me so my arms could rest at my sides, but still with his large, rough hands wrapped around my wrists.

"Nothing." I muttered. Like I would actually tell him what was bothering me. I didn't even know why it bothered me!

"Max if you would just talk to me -"

"About what? You and me? There is no you and me. Especially when you keep throwing yourself at everything in a skirt!" I spat. I didn't understand why I was so mad at him. I didn't know what I was thinking, or what I was saying, even, and it was all so frustrating and confusing. Plus, Brigid wasn't even wearing a skirt!

I wrenched my arms free of his hold, turning to face him as I stumbled away, my cheeks burning with embarrassment and shame. I was confused and miserable - Two of my least favorite things - but Fang didn't care. His hand whipped out and snatched one of my wrists back, pulling me to him.

"Well, good!" He snapped, pulling me so close that my hands were braced against his chest. His hand kept a firm grip on my wrist, afraid I'd pull away again, and his free hand curled around my waist. His dark eyes pulled and tugged at me, I was drowning in them. I couldn't breath and my neck was sweaty and hot.

"I don't want there to be a you and me." He said, his eyes dark and his voice a deep rumble. I looked up at him in shock. "I want there to be an 'us'." He continued softly, his nose brushing mine, it was so close!

"I -" I squeaked, unable to make my voice work. Fang released my wrist, keeping a firm hold on my waist though, and brushed a stray lock of hair out of my face.

My eyes were wide, my face was over-heating and I couldn't breath. I felt trapped under the metal roof of the boat and my heartbeat was roaring in my ears. It was just too damn hot!

I pulled away, freeing myself from his hold, but this time, Fang let me go. He looked a little saddened, but relaxed, which I didn't understand at all because I was having a freaking panic attack. I made a split decision, turned around and ran away, as fast as I could.

I heard him call after me, but I didn't stop. I kept going until I found myself curled up on the floor in the ships pantry. I hugged my knees to my chest and bit my lip until it bled, trying my very hardest not to scream.

**AN:** Well. I have nothing really important to say. I hope you guys enjoyed it! R&REVIEW (please? Just two reviews in one week, that's all I'm asking!)! -Owl.


	13. Blowhole's

_**Maximum Ride - Episode 12: Blowhole's**_

"You need a jacket." I told Total, growing more and more exasperated by the second.

It had been two days since I made a complete fool of myself and I've spent every waking moment trying to avoid Fang. The few words that had passed between us in the past forty-eight hours had mostly consisted of me blushing before finally making some stupid excuse and running away.

Now I was out on the deck with the kids and Total, and hey! guess what. It's still frozen-crap cold!

That leads us to where I am now, bickering with Total, who was shaking so much you'd think he would be frozen and dead by now. But no. He's still here, refusing to put on the damn doggy-jacket!

"Akila doesn't have to wear a jacket!" He pointed out through chattering teeth. Figures. Everyone else is off somewhere having fun and I'm the one stuck having an argument with the dog.

"The go down below before I have to chip ice off your nose!" I snapped, pointing towards the narrow staircase. Total huffed, turned around and, with great dignity, trotted away. I snorted and then turned to the giggling scientist behind me.

"I'm sorry. I just don't think I'll ever get used to the idea of a talking dog." Melanie apologized, giving me a friendly smile as she turned back to her clipboard.

"What's that?" I asked curiously, watching her scribble down some notes on the paper.

"Just a weather log. We document weather patterns everyday." She explained, showing me the months and months worth of information she had on her clipboard.

Before I could reply, Nudge came sprinting towards us, smiling brightly. "Max, you've got to check out their computers! They can show you what the world's going to look like in fifty years! And Gazzy just ran a demonstration of what would happen if a tsunami hit Los Angeles!" She chattered excitedly.

"Cool." I said. "What are Spike and Iggy doing?" I asked, realizing I hadn't seen them in a while.

"Scalping Paul, Bryan and Brigid at poker." Nudge stated, bouncing on her toes happily. Melanie's eyes widened in surprise.

"What about Angel?"

"She's ahead by about thirty bucks."

"Ha!" It burst out of my lips before I could stop it. Did they really expect to win against a mind-reader?

Just then Angel appeared on the deck, shoving a big wad of money into her pockets. I shot her a curious glance, wondering why she would leave the game halfway through, and she grinned at me.

"Whales." She said. That just confused me, so I raised an eyebrow at her. She skipped over and took my hand, tugging me towards the railing on the boat before pointing out at the deep, blue water. "Whales. I wanted to see them." She repeated in that cute six-year-old way of hers.

Melanie smiled down at her and nodded. "Yes, we'll probably see some before too long. There are eight different species of whales in this region."

"We're gonna see them now." Angel insisted, reaching up onto her tiptoes so she could see over the railing. I was about to bend down and put her on my hip so she could see better, but Fang beat me to it.

He swooped in out of nowhere, shocking me slightly, and picked Angel up like she weighed less then a feather. Angel squealed and giggled as Fang put her on his shoulder and she braced her hand on his other shoulder - then the one she wasn't sitting on.

Melanie's smile grew even more at the sight of the two together. "We'll definitely see them at some point." She promised, but Angel shook her head.

"No, they're here. They're curious. They think the boat smells yucky." She said, pointing out at the water again and wrinkling her nose at the word 'yucky'.

"What?" Melanie asked, just as the biggest animal I have ever seen burst through the surface of the ocean.

I gasped at the sight. It was like a giant wall of grey-black skin, filling up my vision as it got two thirds of it's body out of the water, before coming back down and crashing into the water in a huge belly-flop.

It was so close to us, maybe thirty or forty feet away? And it looked so amazing. It rocked the boat a little bit, but not enough to send anyone toppling over, and a light spray rained over us after the water had settled a bit. Angel smiled.

"That was a humpback." Melanie said. "They love to throw themselves out of the water. You think he was curious?"

"She." Angel corrected adsently as she watched the water with a careful eye. "She was curious. And there's a bunch of them down there too."

That's when Michael Papa came out of the pilothouse. "There's a pod of humpback's all around us." He said, coming over to join us. "I just saw them on sonar."

Fang, Angel and I looked at him and then turned back to the water as Melanie explained to him. "We know, one just shot out a little ways over there." She told him, pointing to where the whale had been.

"I can't believe how big they are." I said. "How many are there?" I asked, turning to look up at Angel, who was still perched on Fang's shoulder.

"I can't tell." She pouted. "They're all thinking at once... Maybe like, twenty-five?" She guessed with a shrug. "There are babies. They wanna come closer, but their moms are saying no. They know the boat isn't natural and shouldn't be here, but they're curious. Not mad or anything. Just curious." She continued to inform us. "The baby whales kinda remind me of Iggy and Gazzy and Nudge and me. 'Cause they wanna play and get closer to the boat. And then the mommy whales are like you, Max, 'cause they're telling them 'no, it isn't safe' because they're worried and they wanna protect their babies, just like you wanna protect us. Right, Max?" She said smiling down at me.

I have to admit, that tugged on my heart strings a little bit. Cue the "aww's".

"Yeah, Ange, that's right." I murmured, reaching up and taking her hand in mine. She grinned at me and looked out at the water again.

"Does she always make up stories about what she sees?" asked, sounding friendly and not trying to be insulting. I opened my mouth to answer, but Angel had heard and beat me to it.

"I'm not making things up. I'm -" She stopped suddenly and looked out at the water. "Uh-oh."

Two seconds later another whale breached, much closer to us this time, jumping almost entirely out of the water and then crashing back down again. It rocked the boat much more this time and one wave even came up the over the railing. Angel squealed as Fang and I got soaked from the waists down - or, in my case, the chest down, sending me fumbling into Fang's side as I slipped on the now wet metal of the deck. Fang managed to wrap an arm around my waist and hold me up, all the while keeping Angel safe and dry on his shoulder.

Angel was giggling hysterically and Melanie and Michael tried to hide their wide-open grins behind their hands. It didn't work. They had been standing a little bit behind us, so when the wave hit they managed to pull back just enough so their feet and ankles were the only part of them that got wet.

I suddenly realized that even though I was firmly placed on my feet, I was pressed flush against Fang's side by his arm that had pulled me close when I tripped. A blush ran up my neck and onto my cheeks, making me pull away and shake my head as I tried to make intelligent words.

"I -I need to go change. I-it's really cold." I stuttered, thankful that they would think the shivering and the trembling was from the cold.

But, because this is me we're talking about, the rest of my wonderful Flock came running out to see what was going on, only to start grinning and admiring the large creatures that were now surrounding the boat and blowing water out of their blow-holes.

"He was showing off." Angel giggled down at Fang and I. "Like a teenage boy."

"Hey, Angel!" Gazzy called from the railing. "Can you come show Iggy some pictures of the whales?" He asked and Angel wriggled down from Fang's shoulder and ran over to Nudge, Iggy and Gazzy.

"I'm guessing you guys stood in the splash zone." Spike grinned as she walked up behind us, shoving a huge, and I mean Huge, chunk of cash into her pockets.

"Shut up." I said, lightly pushing her shoulder. The three of us laughed and then Melanie finally burst.

"Am I missing something?" She demanded worriedly. "I just don't understand!" She exclaimed as Paul, Bryan and Brigid came up the stairway, looking a little peeved and/or depressed.

"I thought you would have guessed by now!" Spike laughed at Paul, Bryan and Brigid as they joined our little circle.

"I thought between the talking dog and flying kids you guys would've put two and two together by now." Fang murmured in his quiet voice.

"Angel can hear other people's thoughts." I explained, cracking up laughing as their eyes bulged out of their heads. "And most animals, too. That's how she knew the whales were curious." I told them and Melanie fell over in a dead faint.

"Melanie!" Bryan exclaimed. Suddenly Bryan was holding her up and Paul was fanning her with a white towel. I don't think Melanie's condition even registered in Michael and Brigid's mind, they were to busy squawking at me like I'd grown a second head.

"You know, you'd think they'd be used to it by now." Spike stated thoughtfully. I chuckled and shook my head.

"Come on." Fang said, touching my elbow with a feather-soft touch. "Let's go get changed and dried off. I can already feel the icicles forming on my pants."

Although I was horrified to be alone with Fang even for the smallest amount of time, I didn't exactly feel like freezing to death, so I nodded and led the way down the narrow stairs.

It was hard to believe that we had been at sea for three days. It felt like so much longer. Although, part of me guessed that was just me because avoiding Fang was not an easy task. The next day we were scheduled to dock at 9:35pm. We would check into a hotel with the scientists and then in the morning we would part and go our separate ways. It was both a little sad and a great relief. Bryan, Paul and the others had been nice to us, but ever since we found out Sue-Ann was a traitor, I just couldn't bring myself to trust any of them.

I shook myself out of my thoughts and turned to go into the girls bunk, but Fang grabbed my arm and pulled me back. My breath hitched and my brain started working a million thoughts per second. Were we seriously going to do this again? Why couldn't he just leave me alone? Doesn't he understand that I'm humiliated enough as it is?

"Max." He said, when I wouldn't look at him, he put two fingers under my chin and lifted my face up to his. But it was different this time. His eyes weren't staring into my soul, pulling me apart from the inside out and making me drown in their never-ending abyss.

This time there was a bit of space between us and he kept his distance so we wouldn't touch. I could breath and the heat started to die as soon as he caught my eyes with his.

"I know you've been avoiding me." He stated plainly and I immediately felt horrible. He had just been worried that I was having another freaky episode and I went bad-shit on him.

"I -I'm sorry." I muttered. "I didn't mean to blow up like that, it's just I can't bring myself to trust any of them and, I guess, when I saw you and -"

"Stop." He cut in, his voice firm, but quiet. "I'm not looking for an apology. I just want to know what's going on. Things have been a little crazy lately with getting captured and being stuck in Antarctica for over a week and your mom and everything else piled on top. I just wanted to make sure that you're okay." He reached out and placed his hand on my shoulder. I smiled at him. It wasn't big and strong, - more like small and frail - but it didn't really matter because Fang didn't need the big, toothy smiles from me.

"Course I am." I told him. "I'm the invincible Maximum Ride." We both chuckled a little and then I met his eyes again. "But seriously. I'm okay. Thanks."

"For what?" Fang asked curiously.

"For being one of two people on this planet who actually know that I'm a crazy bitch and you have to ask if I'm okay, otherwise I'll just keep going and going until I collapse." I said. This time we laughed. And suddenly everything was okay.

**AN:** Hope you liked it! Please, please, please, tell me what you think! You'd better do while you still have a choice, because if I don't start getting reviews soon, I'm gonna use the Bambi Eyes on you! R&REVIEW! -Owl.


	14. Home, Sweet Home

_**Maximum Ride - Episode 13: Home, Sweet Home**_

It was late afternoon and we were standing on a dock in Argentina, watching some crew Michael had hired for the day unload all the equipment from the boat and into a really big truck that Paul and Bryan were going to drive to a friend who had his own plane and then they would fly into the US and unload the plane in Texas where the Carey's lived.

Total, Angel, Gazzy, Nudge and Iggy were a little further down the dock watching an old guy measure the giant fish he'd caught, Max was looking at a map Bryan had given her and tracing out the fastest route home and Spike and I were left to our own devices.

I decided to peel Max away from her map because she'd been looking at it for twenty minutes straight and I was afraid she was just going over the same patterns over and over again.

"Max, it's not rocket science we just have to fly north until we reach the US and then take a left towards Arizona." I told her when she glared at me for taking her precious map away.

"Yeah, but someone has to plan where we can stop for food and rest and where we're gonna spend the nights while we're traveling for the next week and a half and -" She started ranting but I cut her off by placing my hand over her mouth.

"You're starting to sound like Nudge. Looking at this map until all you see is lines and dots isn't going to help us get back to your mom any sooner." I told her and she huffed at me.

"Well, at least it make me feel like I'm actually doing something other then just sitting here!" She said, trying to snatch her map back, but my arms were longer then her's.

"Hey, before you two get at it again, Michael's waving at us." Spike pointed up at Michael and the other scientists who were walking down the ramp from the ship and onto the dock.

"It's been amazing having all of you with us for the past two weeks." Paul said, as they walked up with sad smiles on their faces. I guess it was time to say goodbye.

The kids came running up and Max shook hands with Michael as we all said our goodbyes. Total started crying and tried to chain himself to Akila, Bryan and Paul told us to look them up if we were ever in Texas, Emily wished us good luck on our travels, Michael told us to be careful and to tell Max's mom that she has quite the group of teenagers on her hands and then Brigid said her goodbye last.

"I'm glad I got the chance to really get to know you after you saved me." She said, looking at us with a smile. "I really hope that we can meet again sometime."

Max nodded, but didn't say anything, and then turned to face all of them. "You've all been really nice to us, even though you didn't know the first thing about us. Thank you, for that."

I was glad that she kept the thank-you-and-goodbye speech short, Emily even teared up a bit and wiped her eyes as Max turned and opened up her wings a bit.

"You ready, guys?" She asked, her feathers fluffing up in excitement against the cold wind. The kids cheered and Max took off down the dock with Spike, myself and the kids behind her.

Saying goodbye was a little harder then I thought it'd be. Bryan and Paul were great friends to us and Michael and Emily did nothing but try to make us feel welcome. Brigid showed us everything there was to see and was practically our tour guide. Even though we couldn't trust them completely after Sue-Ann's betrayal, they were still the nicest humans I've ever met. Except Max's mom, of course.

So while we were flying away from that dock, I guess we were all hoping that we would see them again one day.

Surprisingly, our trip back to the US was uneventful. I mean, Iggy and Gazzy blew up a restaurant bathroom and Angel and Nudge blew out everyone's eardrums when they saw a big sign that said everything at the clothing store was half off. Let's just say they got to go shopping while the rest of us stuffed gauze in our ears.

Anyways, besides the normal Flock-like antics, there were no problems. We didn't get attacked, captured or both. No one was kidnapped in the middle of the night. We were doing really well.

That is, until we found what was waiting for us back home. After a week and a half of non-stop, sort of, flying we finally landed in the backyard of the familiar house. There was the smell of freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies wafting from the open kitchen window and as soon as our feet touched the ground, a giant, hulking mutt came running out to greet us.

Ari skidded to a stop as Angel ran to give him a hug and bent down so she could reach his neck. Iggy and Gazzy ran over, too, but when they started to wrestle l and rough-house like always, Ari pulled away. The kids looked up at him in confusion and Ari morphed back into a fourteen-year-old looking boy. His face was grim and Max was by his side instantly.

"What's wrong? Did something happen while we were gone?" She demanded, looking past Ari towards the house. There were no signs of forced entry or attack.

"I'm not sure what to consider it, but I'm not going back in there 'til _He_ leaves." Ari growled. I was surprised by the amount of hatred in his eyes, after all the kid is only nine years old, but then _He_ came out onto the back porch.

Ari growled and slid behind Max while morphing back into a snarling wolf. The kids all joined him by gathering around Max, grabbing her hands. Spike and I took up our places on either side of Max as she glared up at Jeb.

"What are you doing here?" Max asked, her voice calm and even. Which was a first considering who we were talking to.

"I'm here to help, Max." He said, moving aside to allow access to inside. "Please, come inside where we can talk. Just hear me out." He asked of us.

"Give me one good reason why I should." Max spat back, standing tall.

"Because the sooner you talk to him the sooner he'll leave." Dr.M suggested, coming out to join Jeb on the porch. Her voice was dry and her eyes were trailed on Jeb, like she was waiting for him to do something worthy of being kicked out for. "I'm glad you're finally home, kids. Come inside, I just ordered some pizza's." She said, her eyes and tone softening quite a lot when she turned to us.

Max smiled at her mom and nodded. "Come on, guys. I'm starving." She told us, leading the way past Jeb.

All the kids hurried after her and Ari reluctantly went back into the house with them. Spike followed behind him and then there was me. Jeb looked at me expectantly, but I just stood there, glaring at him.

"Fang, I know you don't trust me, but I really am just trying to -"

"Shut up." I snapped, cutting him off. "Max told me you're the Voice and I just want you to know that if you ever hurt her again, like you did back in New York, I will hunt you down and I will kill you." I shoved past him, almost knocking him over with the force, and followed the others into the house.

I found everyone in the livingroom. Angel and Nudge were telling Ella all about the penguins and Iggy and Gazzy were telling Ari about the Sea Elephant attack and the whales. Max and Spike were sitting quietly with Dr.M, waiting for the food.

I went over and joined them, ignoring the questioning looks from Spike and Max as I got some food of my own. Jeb stood sat in the armchair to the side and Max stared at him for a long moment before breaking into the kids conversations.

"Hey, you guys should go get ready for bed. Once the pizza's get here we'll put on a movie or something." She promised and the kids grinned widely at each other.

Ari, Angel, Gazzy and Nudge all ran up stairs to get ready and Ella followed along so she could hear more about the penguins, but Iggy hesitated at the foot of the stairs before shaking his head a bit and running to catch up with the others with Total at his heels.

As soon as they were gone Max sat down on the couch opposite of Jeb. "What do you want, Jeb?"

"I'm glad to see that you haven't completely forgotten your mission." Jeb said, using the fatherly tone he had used many, many times before when we were kids. The thing is, it never actually worked and it still didn't work.

"Cut the crap, Jeb. Why did you lie to me back in Germany?" Max demanded, getting straight to the point.

"Lie? Max, I didn't lie about anything when we were in Germany. Everything I told you was the truth." Jeb replied, looking shocked that Max had accused him of such a thing.

"Then what about all the DNA crap you talked about? While we were in Antarctica, Angel was able to pet the birds and fly with them because she looked just like them. Her wings anyways. The more I look at everyone the more I realize what you told me was wrong. And what about Alpha and the other Erasers. They aren't dead so where have they been? And these powers, where did they come from? I swear, every time I turn around the kids have a new power that I have to make rules for so they don't use it on each other or pull pranks with it or just plain do something stupid!"

"Powers? What powers?" Jeb asked, looking confused and curious. A dangerous combination for a scientist, especially one from the School. "I thought Angel and the Gasman were the only ones who had any sort of special skill."

"Yeah, because they're the only ones who had their abilities while you were around. Since then Angel's powers have gotten a lot stronger and some of us have discovered our own little hidden talents." Max explained, eying Jeb carefully.

"How so? And what kind of talents are they?" Jeb egged her on, probably getting excited that he'll have another reason to experiment on us with his friends back at the School.

"I have levitation powers. Nudge can, literally, control computers, kinda Angel can control minds only she uses her fingers instead of her brain." Spike explained carefully. I wasn't sure I liked telling Jeb so much about us. How much of this information would make it back to the School, after all? But these are the answers Max has been looking for, so I wasn't about to stop her.

"Yeah, and I have super speed." Max said, giving me a glance that clearly said 'keep it shut'.

"Didn't you and your little friends plan this?" I asked. Sure I was being bitter, but this guy betrayed us and was constantly hurting Max, I wasn't just gonna forgive him for a couple of questions answered.

"No. We never even imagined..." Jeb trailed off, looking star-struck by this new development. He then shook his head and continued on. "I'm not sure, but I think that it's very possible you kids are mutating on your own..." He told us slowly, watching our faces for reactions.

"Is that bad? Could it put the kids in danger?" Max's reaction was fast and level, but I could see it in her eyes. She was worried for the kids and seeing them get hurt or worse would be a nightmare come true for her.

"I don't know. But considering Angel and Gasman's age and the strength of their powers, I believe that your genetically altered DNA will protect you from any problems a normal human would have with these powers." Jeb shrugged. "And as for lying to you about your DNA, I didn't. I told you what you were given as far as genetic mutation. But the DNA you were given changed. Your human selves altered and shifted the DNA until it was something that fit in with your structure. Angel's love of the snow must have made her DNA change into a Snow Petrel."

"So, really, we didn't change at all from the experiments. The DNA changed to fit us, not the other way around?" Spike asked, simplifying it for those of us who hate scientist talk.

"Precisely. Your personalities would have been exactly the same had you even not had been given the genetic mutation." Jeb announced. "But, of course, you did mature much faster then human children due to your wills to survive." He added after a moment. "If you want to know what each of you are, the answers are simple. Max, Fang, your DNA didn't change much at all. Only enough to blend with your original genetic makeup. Spike, yours changed quite a bit. So much in fact that your DNA matches that of a Red Kite. Iggy became a Western Scrub Jay, which surprised me because each of you had taken to larger bird's of prey. Nudge remained the same, although we did find that a very small part of her makeup matched a Hummingbird's."

"There's a shocker." Spike muttered with a smile. I shook my head. I knew giving that kid sweets and caffeine was a bad idea, but those damn Bambi eyes can get her anything she wants!

"Next was Gazzy. He remained the same, the first out of all of you. But the parts that didn't fit were still carved away. And finally Angel, as you already know, is a Snow Petrel. We didn't expect any of you to change and mutate until you were, well, you. But because you did the Avian-Hybrids became our most successful group of recombinant DNA life forms." Jeb told us and part of me wondered if these were the answers Max had been looking for. But the rest of me reminded myself that this was our life and nothing in our life can ever be that easy.

"Okay. That's two questions answered, you're obviously feeling generous today. What about the Erasers? What -" Max stopped as the doorbell rang. Thundering footsteps could be heard running around upstairs as the kids scrambled to get to the doorway.

Dr.M looked at us and shook her head. "That's enough for now. I know you have questions, but the kids need a break. They just got home and a relaxing movie night with a couple of pizza's will be good for them. And, although it pains me to say this, you can always pick up where you left off tomorrow. Jeb, you can take the guest bedroom. Don't make me regret it." She said, walking towards the door as she spoke to Jeb. Ouch. Someone's in the dog house. And they're not even married anymore!

We stayed in the livingroom and the kids hid in the stairway across the hall, listening as Dr.M payed for the pizza's and thanked the man for being so quick about it.

"Kids, come and get it!" She called, setting the pie's down on the kitchen table. Everyone ran into the kitchen, crowding around as Dr.M opened the first box. There were sixteen extra larges for us mutant kids so we could have two each and then a large everything for Dr.M and Ella to share. Did I miss anyone? Nope, Dr.M got us all. Isn't she great?

"Yes, yes, yes." Nudge chanted excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet. The incredible smell of pizza was filling up the entire room.

"Who got the all meat special?" Dr.M asked and Max practically lunged at at her, trying to get to the pizza before the magical trolls carried it away to the very tiny bridge that no one was allowed to cross.

"Me!" She said, reaching to grab it, but Gazzy stopped her.

"Wait!" He said, his small face a little pale. "Look!" He pointed into the pizza box and when I looked carefully enough I could see a very thin, very discreet wire sticking out of the thick crust.

"Get down!" Max yelled and we all dove.

Everything flashed white. My ears were ringing and for a minute everything was far away. When my eyes finally cleared enough for me to see I found myself on the ground, next to the couch I threw myself over. Max was in front of me, her face pressed in my shoulder. I had instinctively grabbed her, without even thinking, and jumped back away from the explosion. Now I had one arm wrapped around her waist and my opposite hand on the back of her head, my shoulder protecting her face from any falling debris.

Fluttering sounds in the silence after the explosion told me that bits and piece's of things were flying everywhere and dust clouded the air. Max was so still in my arms that it made my heart hammer in my chest painfully.

"You okay?" I asked, looking down at her as her eyes fluttered open to make contact with mine. She gave me a quick nod and then jumped to her feet.

"Report!" She called out, but she started choking on the dust. She gagged and coughed until her eyes were red, but she didn't let that stop her. "Report!" She croaked, trying again now that the room had settled a bit.

"We're okay." Angel's small voice came from the hallway where she, Dr.M and Ella had dove.

"I'm okay, too." Nudge said as she pushed the tipped-over armchair off of her.

"Yeah, same here." Iggy's voice sounded, but we couldn't see him until he and Gazzy stood up from a pile of debris, covered from head to toe in white explosion dust.

"What was that?" Spike asked, jumping down from on top of the kitchen cupboards with Total in her arms.

"The delivery boy did it!" Total exclaimed, reciting a line from one of his soap operas that he watches with Nudge and Angel whenever they manage to get the Tv remote from the guys.

"Is everyone alright?" Jeb asked, coming from, who cares where. Surprisingly we were all okay. Dr.M was freaked though and kept patting us all down for broken bones.

"Good job, Gazzy. If you hadn't caught that we'd all be goners right now." Max told him, ruffling his hair as he grinned modestly.

"It was nothing." He said, scratching the back of his head like he always does when he's embarrassed. Max turned and motioned for me to get the packs.

"Let's get out of here before the cops, or anyone else, show's up." She said.

**AN:** Yo, what's up? Please drop a review, this whole 'begging you guys for a review' thing is getting old. I hope you liked it! R&R! -Owl.


	15. Three Room's, Two Week's, One Max

**_Maximum Ride - Episode 14: Three Room's, Two Week's, One Max_**

Late that night we all checked into a hotel. Max's mom got three rooms. One for her, Jeb, Ella and Total, another for us guys and then one more for the girls. I guessed Ella would be spending most of her time in the girl's room, but I kept that to myself because if Dr.M just happened to kill Jeb because no one was there to stop her, it would save me a lot of trouble.

Anyways, I didn't bother trying to sleep that night. I was still on after the explosion so in the end I would go for a midnight flight to use up some of the adrenaline pumping through my veins, but I waited because I didn't want to wake anyone up.

Around one in the morning I finally got up. Now each room had two beds and because we guys don't share beds - don't ask me why, it's just awkward - so when I stepped out of bed I had to avoid Ari, who was sprawled out comfortably on the floor and be careful not to stub my toe on the leg of the couch-bed that Gazzy was sleeping on. We claimed beds the old fashioned way. Whoever gets there first wins, don't like it? You can wrestle for it, but would you really want to wrestle against a really tall, muscular guy wearing all black and risk the wrath of Max on top of that? Didn't think so.

I decided to check in on the girls while I was up and slipped through the connecting door. Inside I found Spike and Nudge in one bed and Angel and Max in the other. Ella had, surprisingly, slept in the bed she shared with her mom. Probably because Dr.M and Max decided that we all needed a good nights sleep and sent the girls to bed without their usual late night giggle fest.

I sneaked my way over to the far side of Max's bed where she was tensed and clenching the sheets tightly in her fingers. Angel was curled up next to her, sleeping peacefully, but Max looked like she was dreaming of a fight.

I sighed and shook my head. I couldn't risk Max - or anyone else, for that matter - waking up and catching me, watching Max sleep. Especially Dr.M. I did not want to get on that woman's bad side.

"Yo, Max." I said, keeping my voice lower then normally because I didn't want to wake anyone else.

She snapped up, sitting straight with her eyes wide, but bleary and trying frantically to focus. "Wha?" She mumbled, confused. "What? What's -"

"Let's take a spin." I murmured, cutting her off before she could ask what was wrong and making a 'out there' kind of motion. Max blinked up at me a few times and rubbed her eyes sleepily. It was kinda funny how cute she could be when she was half-asleep.

"Why?" She whispered once she had managed to register what I'd said. Her shoulder muscles seemed to relax a bit at the idea of flying. I grinned at her, excited at the thought of being alone with her for the first time in way too long.

"Because we can." I said slyly and she smiled back at me. I nodded and went to the window, jumping out and leaving Max to follow when she was ready. I had learned the hard way - about a year and a half ago - that teenage girls tend to sleep with no pants on. Just underwear.

Soaring up into the sky felt amazing. The cool night air washed over my feathers and the plump full moon brightened everything up. It felt great to stretch my wings to their fullest and just let the wind carry me. I hadn't done that in a long time.

I swooped around to stretch out my back in a huge arch and looked back the way I had come to find Max flying up to meet me. I dropped as she came towards me and we passed each other. We did this a couple times and the swirled around each other. It was nice to be able to just fly without having to worry about where we were going or if anyone was following us.

After awhile we came to an unspoken agreement and angled ourselves downward in ever diminishing circles until our feet touched the rough wood of a dock. We ran down it, using every last bit of leftover momentum, and came to a stop just a few feet from the edge.

We plopped down, letting our legs hang off the side of the dock, and left our wings out to let them cool off. The dock was small, so our wings overlapped, and I liked the feel of her wing lightly brushing against mine. Her feathers were softer then anything I'd ever felt before and it was extremely tempting to just reach out and run my fingers through them.

"This is amazing." Max murmured. I looked out at the lake in front of us when she said that, realizing I'd been staring at her soft, warm wing that was still touching mine.

It was amazing. The surface of the lake was flat, undisturbed in the middle of the night, and reflected the stars and the moon like a liquid mirror. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Max reach down and gently touch the water with the tips of her small, delicate fingers. Tiny ripples expanded and floated across the lake's surface before settling again, only to be followed by another.

We didn't say anything else. Just watched the water settle back into perfect stillness. After this happened I looked over at her and instantly regretted it. Her hair cascaded over both of her slim shoulders and her small hands were folded in her lap. The moonlight curled over her skin, giving her a soft glow, almost, and creating sharp, sensual shadows along her curves and in the hollows of her collarbone. The soft light dripped down her arms and legs and spilled over her chest which was hidden only by the very thin tank-top she had been sleeping in...

I had to look away. For both our sakes.

I swallowed the thick lump that had closed up my throat while looking at her and coughed. "Yeah." I choked, trying to sound normal. "Peaceful."

If Max heard any of the strain in my voice, she didn't show it. In stead she gave me a small smile and looked back out at the lake, swinging her legs a little bit. "Jeb offered to get us a safe house until Mom can get the kitchen fixed."

"You aren't actually considering it, are you?" I asked, utterly shocked that she would even think of trusting him for even a second.

"I don't want to, but what other choice do we have?" She asked me, sounding stressed out and aggravated. "I've had this argument with myself thirteen times since he told me and every time I get a different answer! We can't trust Jeb or his resources, but we have no where else to go and no one else to turn to. It's to dangerous because Jeb could easily betray us and then we'd all be in danger, but it's not like we can up and leave like we usually do. Mom, Ella and Ari can't fly and even if there was some way to get them away from here it wouldn't be fair. Ella has school and friends and Ari just got settled and Mom's kitchen just exploded, anymore excitement and she'll have a heart attack!"

All of these were good points and I couldn't deny that Jeb's safe house could be the safest place for all of us. But it could also be the most dangerous. He could easily betray us and then we'd all be screwed.

"Max." I said, forcing her to look at me by putting my palm flat against her cheek and turning her towards me. "We'll think of something. Me, you and Spike. Just like we always do. We survived before Jeb, we survived after Jeb and we'll survive now. You're not alone in this." I told her.

"I don't want anyone to get hurt because of a decision I made." She whispered, looking away from me, making my hand slide from her cheek. A shadow came over her face and her brow narrowed a the thought of someone getting hurt because of her.

I didn't like how tense she was. I didn't like this conversation we were having. I came out here to have some time with my Max and now she's worrying about everything else except us. Wasn't it time she understood how much she meant to me? Shouldn't she know that she was my Max? If I could just show her. Convince her that she didn't have to be afraid of what was changing between us. Make her see what we could have together...

"...and then there's food. Something tells me that my mother wouldn't care to dumpster dive for her next meal, so that alone scratches out taking them on the run with us! And then there's -" I realized that she's been talking for awhile now and roll my eyes. I didn't bring her out here to worry about everything, I brought her out because I wanted to get away from it all. Just the two of us. Together. For once.

"...What do you think? Or have you even been listening?" She finally stopped to ask with a huff of stress and frustration. I looked at her and then back out at the lake.

"To be honest? No, I blocked out most of your rant." I told her truthfully and she rolled her eyes.

"Whimp. It wasn't even a third of the rant Nudge gives me everyday about the latest fashion trends that we're all missing out on." She said, pushing my shoulder lightly, but she smiled at me a little bit.

"You're..." I started, looking into her chocolate-swirled eyes as she waited for me to continue. "...Such a pain." I said.

"What?" She demanded, but I didn't give her the chance to continue. I swooped up and captured her lips with mine. My hands wrapped around her, one tangling in her silk-soft hair and the other sliding up to in between her wings, rubbing soft circles there because I know she loves that.

I pulled her closer to me, loving the feel of her warm body pressed against mine. Her tiny hands were braced against my chest, but they weren't pushing me away. With just one hand my fingers stretched out and covered almost the whole of her back. She felt so small whenever I held her in my arms and yet she was still so strong. I could feel her muscles rippling and trembling with every touch, I could feel every curve of her body - especially the curve of her chest that was pressed against mine. I guiltily enjoyed the feel of it and the sound of her ragged panting in my ears.

I turned my head and kissed her harder, loving the way she shuddered as my wings encircled us, brushing against her bare arms and her wings. Her smell - Vanilla and chocolate-chip cookies - filled my nose, making me want to push her down onto the dock and ravish her, kissing her from head to toe with all the love I had for her.

So just try to imagine how horrible it was when she wrenched herself from my arms, jumped up and stumbled backwards, away from me. Go on. Just try.

"I -I..." She stuttered and fumbled over her words, a fierce, dark blush heating her cheeks. She shook her head and ran, launching herself off the dock and into the air. I watched her fly away. Sitting on the dock. Alone.

I watched until I couldn't see her anymore, wanting to chase after her, but knowing it wouldn't do any good. I sighed when she left my view, annoyed with the situation, myself. But for the life of me, I couldn't blame her for what had happened. Couldn't be annoyed with her. She wasn't good with emotions, unless it's anger, and everything that was happening between us was pushing her miles and miles out of her comfort zone. She needed time and when she was ready, I'd be there.

I just had to be patient. That's part of being in love, I guess.

The next morning was interesting to say the least. Dr.M gave Max a big wad of cash and told her to take us all down to the pancake house across the street for breakfast, while she made phone calls and found out if we could move back into the house any time soon - using the excuse that her daughter had started a fire in the kitchen so the fire department wouldn't ask questions. Jeb told us he would look into the safe house and I had risked a glance at Max, who had looked annoyed and then blush heavily when she remembered where our conversation last night had led and then proceeded to ignore me through the rest of the morning.

Spike had noticed, but didn't say anything. Instead she opted for a confused look at me while no one else was looking as we left the pancake house. I gave her a shrug and an exasperated look. I knew I'd get it from her later if there was ever a chance for the two of us to be alone. She'd probably slap me for being an idiot.

About an hour after breakfast Dr.M announced that the damage done in the kitchen would take two weeks to fix and the structure of the upper floor above the kitchen had been compromised during the explosion, so we weren't allowed to move back in while they were fixing it.

It was at this time that Dr.M told us about the lake near by, oh joy, and suggested we all go have some fun while she and Jeb discussed - aka, argued and screamed - where we would be staying for the next few days.

It was nice that Dr.M didn't trust Jeb at all, so she was on the same page as us, but something told me she didn't have a safe house ready and prepared for our arrival.

Anyways, we went to the lake like Dr.M suggested and the kids immediately ran for the water. Iggy, Gazzy and Ari jumped straight in off the dock, while Angel, Nudge and Ella waded in the shallows because the water was cold, but Total got them in the water real fast when he started talking about his 'wine and cheese collection' magazines. Apparently they're big in Portugal.

"Well, I'm off to soak up some sun. Later." Spike gave us a two-fingered salute and walked over to a stretch of beach far enough away from the water so the guys couldn't splash her while her eyes were closed.

And that's how I ended up standing by the lake. With Max. Alone.

The silence wasn't awkward, but anyone could sense that it was uncomfortable. I risked a sideways glance at Max and found her to be looking out at the kids with a far away look in her eyes, like she wasn't even paying attention to what was happening. Did that mean she was zoning out and didn't care that we were alone together or did that mean she was lost in thought of how to get out of this situation? And why do girls have to be so damn confusing?

Eventually, after a lot of over-thinking things and standing around awkwardly, Angel called Max towards the water to look at the turtle she and the girls had found. Of course, this brought the guys over and I decided to follow, hoping for the first time in my life that Iggy would splash me with water and give me a reason to chase him around the lake until I catch him and hold him down until he says 'uncle'.

"Look at him, he's so cool!" Ella was saying as we joined the group. Gazzy was holding a turtle about the size of Total's head, showing him off to the others.

"I don't know, he look's kinda shellfish to me." Total said, making Angel giggle. Ah, the simplicity of six-year-old.

After a bit of looking and holding and petting, we let the little guy go back to where we'd found him and the kids went back to playing in the water. I was extremely happy when Gazzy and Iggy leaped onto my back from behind, trying to wrestle me down in to the water so they could dunk me.

Unfortunately they had a giant, playful wolf-puppy weighing in at 126 on their side. So I was capsized and I got soaked.

At this, Max started laughing hysterically because Ari had literally run up behind me, ran under my legs and flipped me over his back and into the water. But I figured that since I had to be wet, so did Max. I ran at her and grabbed her around the waist. She yelled and hit my back as I flung her over my shoulder and started running out to the deeper waters.

The kids cheered and laughed as I dived under with Max still on my shoulder, effectively soaking her as the guys had done me. When we surfaced her hair was a wet mop that hung in front of her face and when she saw me she put her hands on top of my head and pushed me down under the water again.

I came up shaking the water off my face and I grinned at her as she started to swim away, but I lunged out and grabbed her again. My arms wrapped tightly around her waist I swung her around, but I couldn't do anything more because I was laughing to hard.

"Look out below!" Spike called, canon-balling into the lake right next to Max and I. I looked down at the girl currently imprisoned by my arms and we nodded at each other.

Thus began the free-for-all splash wars. The kids would team up on me and then while Spike and Max were laughing at me I would sick the little terrors on them. Even Total got out and practiced his doggy paddle, but he wasn't exactly a terrier so his swimming wasn't all that great.

By sunset we were all laying out on the beach, relaxing in the last light of the day.

And it only took one scream to ruin it all.

"MOVE!"

**AN:** Hey! So, this week I decided to post two chapters in the hopes that I'll get some review of appreciation. Both, if you haven't noticed, are in Fang's POV, so I really hope you guys will tell me what you think and let me know what you liked and what you didn't. I hope you liked both chapters this week! R&R! -Owl.


	16. A New Friend

_**Maximum Ride - Episode 15: A New Friend**_

_There. Devin raised his right arm, taking less then a second to calculate the trajectory. He may not have a computer built into his brain like the new robot soldiers, but his 205 IQ served him well._

_His target was laying on the beach, her friends spread out around her, soaking up the sun's rays. The bird-kids were half-asleep, the dog was talking on and on, the Eraser was rolling around on his back and the human girl was propped up on her elbows, looking out at the water from behind her sun-glasses._

_He breathed deep, slowing his breath and focusing his mind. His sensitive ears, eyes and nose alerting him of everything within a mile radius. But he also knew that the bird-kid's had senses just as capable as his, so to complete his mission, he would have to make the first shot a bulls-eye._

_The others were unimportant. The only one that mattered was the girl. One shot to her wing and she'd be right where he wanted her. Many had failed at this and Devin felt utter disdain for those many. How hard was it to shoot one bird-kid? They were flesh and blood, ridiculously fragile. It wasn't like bullets just bounced off of them. One shot to the wing and she'd be helpless._

_He lifted his right hand that was metal and robotic, unlike the rest of him. A Colt 45 was griped firmly in his metallic fingers and was aimed expertly at the target just less then five yards away. Devin looked down the sights of the weapon and closed his left eye._

_And fired..._

The rocks and sand underneath me were warm and felt nice on my back. I left my wings out just enough so I wouldn't crush them by laying on my back and enjoyed the sun's rays. I closed my eyes, just listening to the breathing of my Flock, my sister and my brother.

It was nice. Being able to just hang out for a while. It took some time, but eventually I managed to put everything aside and just have fun with the kids. I hadn't really done that to much since we went on the run over six months ago.

My eyes suddenly snapped open of their own acord and I glanced to both sides, taking in my surroundings. When I shifted my eyes to the right, I saw a flash, as if something smooth and shiny had caught the light. My stomach tightened.

"MOVE!" I screamed, but I was too late. A shot rang out along the surface of the water and we all flew up into the air. Fang had Ella, Spike had managed to grab Ari and Gazzy had the wriggling Total in time to avoid the bullet even though we had no idea who it was for.

I turned and looked over to where I had seen the flash and another glare struck my eyes as another shot rang out. I twisted and felt the bullet rip through my hair, yanking out a chunk of it as it whizzed by.

"Max, look out!" Angel cried, but I was to busy dodging the onslaught of bullets. One skinned my shoulder and another grazed the feathers of my right wing, but then I felt one pierce my left wing and I cried out in pain that was so bad it ran up and down every feather on my wing.

"MAX!" I'm not sure who it was that yelled, but I did know that I was falling and I was falling fast. I went into the death spiral, I could feel the hard ground of the rocky beach getting closer. I forced my wings out as much as I possibly could and managed an awkward crash landing as I skidded across the sand on my side.

"Scatter!" I called to the others, not wanting them to get hurt. "Get out of firing range!"

They hesitated, looking between me and the direction of the hotel. I looked over to where the shooter was and saw a boy, no older then me, striding towards me, gun raised and a blank look in his eyes.

"NOW!" I yelled up to them as the guy shot three more rounds. I jumped up and fluttered with one wing just enough to avoid the first two, but the third one chafed my shin, creating a large gash.

"Now, Iggy!" Fang swooped down and slammed his foot into the back of the guys head. The gun went flying from his hand and the two started rolling in the sand, trying to gain the upper hand.

"Max, come on." Iggy said, grabbing my left arm and wrapped it around his shoulders, Iggy started pulling me to my feet and supporting my left side so we could get in the air again.

"Fang, get out of there!" I wasn't sure if he heard me, but when Iggy and I had made it to the others he flew up to meet us. His powerful wings brought him up to us, fast and graceful, like a big black panther with glossy black wings...

I think I've lost a little too much blood. I'm talking crazy.

I looked down at the beach where the guy was standing, looking up at us with his gun back in his hand. He wasn't aiming at us anymore, because he ether knew that we were out of range or he was out of ammo. Or both.

"Max!" My eyes snapped up to look at Spike, who had, apparently, been saying my name for the past few minutes. "Come on, guys. I need to get this wrapped." She said to the others, as Angel and Gazzy handed Ella back to Fang, who could carry her without loosing altitude from being small and, or holding a small dog in one arm.

"Wait, that guy -" I started but fang cut me off.

"You're not going back there. Chances are, he'll be back. We'll find out who he is then." He told me, firmly refusing to let me get some answers out of that guy. But I was too exhausted and my wing was throbbing painfully, so...

I stumbled into the hotel room, leaning on Iggy and Fang for support as Spike went ahead to get the first-aid kit. I plopped down in the first chair within reach and slumped over myself. My wing was hanging awkwardly over the arm and blood was oozing down my shin.

Mom came through the connecting door and gasped in horror when she saw me. "Max!" She cried, running to my side and looking me over. "What happened?" She demanded, looking at the others as Spike started wrapping my leg in thick, white bandages.

"We were attacked. Pretty strange that after nearly two weeks of no trouble we get attacked the second we let our guard down." Fang growled, his voice rumbling in his chest as he glared across the room at Jeb.

No one seemed to notice because they were too busy fussing over me. Mom took over wrapping my leg while Spike moved on to examining my wing, carefully lifting it for a better look. I hissed in pain when she put pressure on part of it and she pulled back immediately.

"Well, at least we don't have to go digging for the bullet..." Spike muttered, mostly to herself, but I could still hear it.

It was about that time that I felt it. Something cold, but not like the icy feeling of death, more like when you're really, really hot and some cold water washes over your hands and face or something. It was nice and soothing, although it was kinda faint. I guess my internal sigh wasn't so internal because Mom started freaking and asking if I was okay and telling me not to go to sleep.

"I'm okay, Something on my wing just... feels really good..." I waved her off, trying to look over my shoulder without hurting my wing. It wasn't working to well, so I didn't get to see what was on my wing. Spike kept one hand placed firmly on the hole in my wing, trying to ease the blood-flow without hurting me, while her other hand fiddled with the lid on the antiseptic.

"Hey, Spike?" Gazzy asked.

"Yeah? What is it?" Spike replied absently, focusing her energy into getting my wing fixed up.

"Well, I was just wondering if that's normal." Gazzy explained, pointing towards Spike's hand. Spike's hand and the cold feeling on my wing disappeared as Spike fell backwards in disbelief. I twisted around to see what had happened and found everyone staring at Spike, who was staring at her hand.

"I guess the answers 'no'." Gazzy smiled ironically as we looked around in confusion.

"What was that?" Angel spoke up, kneeling next to Spike.

"If I knew I wouldn't be confused right now." Spike told her, standing up from the floor. "That was weird..." She murmured.

"Uh, excuse me? How about you explain for those of us who didn't get to see it?!" Iggy complained, looking a little grumpy. I had to agree with him. What were they talking about?

"Spike's hand was... glowing, I guess. It kinda looked like fire or fog." Fang said, his head tilted slightly in thought.

"Yeah, it was really pretty, too! It was a light green color, but not one of those gross light greens, a pretty light green, almost like a teal, but more on the green side, you know? I wonder what it was. Did you feel anything a few minutes ago, Max? I mean, it was kinda like this weird fire with fog all around it like Fang said, so did it burn you or anything?" Nudge said, all in one breath.

I shook my head. "I felt something kinda cold. Soothing. But that's it."

"But that doesn't really tell us what it did. Other then the fact that Spike's a living pain killer." Fang pointed out.

"Well." Spike said, drawing herself up. "There's only one way to find out." I felt a bit of pressure on my wing again, but the cold wasn't there. I waited... and waited... and waited, but nothing ever happened. My my wing was still throbbing and I'm pretty sure the blood was flowing faster then before.

"Grr, why isn't it working?" Spike demanded.

"What were you thinking about before?" Angel tilted her head curiously and I had to bite back a chuckle.

"I was just thinking about what I needed to do to fix up Max's wing, like always. But now that's not working." Spike huffed with frustration.

"Try something else then. Sometimes when reading someone's mind is really hard, I just kinda stop thinking about it and I just... do it." The little cherub suggested.

"Whatever you're gonna do, do you mind doing it before I bleed out in the middle of a hotel room?" I grunted casually.

"Okay, I'll give it a shot." She said, putting her hand back on the hole in my wing. I waited... and waited... and then there it was. That cold feeling from before. But it was stronger this time. It was weird, like it was speeding up my recovery and I could feel my blood clotting in the small quarter sized hole.

"Whoa." Spike breathed. I flexed my feathers a bit as the pain started to fade into a soreness and the coldness left after that. "Look at that..." She murmured, holding my wing so she could look at the hole.

"What? What happened?" I questioned, trying to look over my shoulder like an excited little kid.

"I think I just... Healed you..." Spike said, looking up and around at everyone. A thin layer of sweat had gathered on her forehead from the effort.

"Really?!" Now I was excited. I thought I wasn't gonna be able to fly for a week or something, but if Spike healed me then everything must be good.

"Well, not completely, but I stopped the bleeding and I think I cleaned the wound, too." She said. "Judging by how good this looks, I'd say you'll be able to fly again in about three days, when taking our advanced healing process into account."

"Amazing..." Mom whispered, looking at my wing along with everyone else. I felt like curling up in a ball and glaring back at them. But that would be childish of me. So I turned to everyone and met their stares. Spike grinned when our eyes met.

"I have healing powers!" She exclaimed excitedly. "Just imagine what I can do! What can I do? You guys gotta find more hurt animals so I can practice." She informed the kids, who grinned at the idea of bringing home little woodland creatures.

The kids started talking with Spike about her new power and I turned away to look at Fang. And I was positive he was thinking what I was.

Who and what next?

**AN:** Yo, hope you liked it! Drop a review! -Owl.


	17. We're Going Where?

**_Maximum Ride - Episode 16: We're Going Where?!_**

After the excitement over Spike's new power had settled a bit, I told the kids to get ready for bed. They went, grudgingly slow, and I turned to Spike, Fang, Mom and Jeb. Mom had sent Ari and Ella with the others, so while they all crowded into one bathroom, we had the room to ourselves.

"Wow, first levitation and now healing? You're on a roll, Spike." I said, sitting on the edge of the bed. I wasn't looking forward to not flying for the next few days, but thanks to Spike the time I normally would have spent healing was cut in half.

"Not as big of a roll as Angel. Reading minds is a pretty powerful skill. Thinking about what that kid will be able to do when she's older... Make's me glad she's on our side." Spike said, shaking her head slightly.

"I know what you mean." I sighed. "But getting back on topic. Anyone have an idea of where we can go from here?" My eyes traveled over to Jeb and my Mom. Jeb opened his mouth to start talking, but Mom beat him to the punch.

"I have a friend who's working on a project with the military and they've given him a safe house to stay in while he's working for them. He is more then happy to let us stay with him and no one has to know a thing." She told me, smiling brightly and a little smugly.

I'm sure my eyes were wide when I shared looks with Spike and Fang and then turned back to my Mom. "It's that easy?" I asked suspiciously. And she nodded.

"It's that easy."

I looked over to see what Spike and Fang thought. Fang shrugged, but Spike turned to Mom. "Where is this safe house?"

Mom grinned.

"We're going to Hawaii?!" Nudge squealed, beaming like fireworks on the fourth of July. "I can't believe this! This is so amazing! Are you serious?"

"Yes, Nudge. Mom has an old college friend who's letting us stay with him for a while. And apparently he has a bunch of friends in high places, so he sent this jet to pick us up." I said, gesturing to the private plane we were currently in.

It was the next morning and we had just taken off a few minutes ago. I had decided not to tell the kids about Hawaii until we were in the plane and now that they new, they were all beaming and squealing - the female portion doing the majority of the squealing, that is.

"This is gonna be the best trip ever!" Gazzy exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air. We cheered with him, because come on! It's Hawaii!

"Ah, for once you and your insanity is bringing us somewhere nice!" Total sighed, obviously picturing himself on the beach with a coconut drink. At least, that's what the rest of us were thinking about.

I rolled my eyes and looked out the window as the others continued talking. I didn't like planes. They took all the fun out of flying and it was much more dangerous because the plane could crash. The only time you crash when using real wings is when you get shot in the wing, have a brain attack or get tackled to the ground by some jerk that decided it would be a good idea.

"Your turn." Fang said, sitting across from me. I looked down at my cards and pursed my lips as I thought and then picked out two cards.

"Two fives." I said, putting them face-down on the pile.

"Bull Shit." Fang smirked that irritating smirk of his and I huffed.

"Screw you." I muttered, gathering the pile and organizing it into my hand. "How'd you know?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I have three tens... and you flashed your cards when you started talking to the others." He said, looking so innocent. I picked up the pillow that was behind me in the chair and started beating him with it.

"Cheater!" I said, hitting him one last time for good measure. He just smirked at me and chuckled as I started shuffling the deck again.

"Only you two could make BS a violent game." Spike laughed, putting some soda's on the table and pulling up a chair. "Deal me in." She said and I nodded, flicking the deck into three piles. I was no expert, but who cares about being fancy as long as the cards are shuffled well?

When I finished dealing Spike and Fang picked up their cards and started arranging them, but I had to pause and push the hair out of my face. That's been happening a lot more recently.

"You're hair is getting long." Fang commented, glancing up from his cards to catch my eye.

"You're one to talk, Ponytail." Iggy laughed when I said that. Small space equals no privacy which equals more embarrassment for whoever looses this game of wits.

Fang's hair was shorter then mine, but there was just enough to make a ponytail. "Say what you want, but girls find it sexy." He said. This sent me into shock, gaping at him for saying that, the kids started howling with laughter and Spike slammed her fist on the table as soda came out her nose.

"Son of a bitch! Why do you guys only say stuff like that when I'm drinking something? Are you trying to kill me?" Spike exclaimed, but I ignored her.

I grabbed the pillow from behind me, climbed over the table and started beating Fang with it again. "I can't believe you actually said that! You stupid, sexist jerk! That's just plain disgusting!" I yelled, hitting him until he grabbed the pillow and looked me dead in the eye, completely serious.

"Max, I'm sorry that you find me to be sexy and attractive, but I can't help it." I shrieked and threw the pillow aside, tackling Fang to the ground with my bare hands.

Me trying to beat Fang senseless while the others laughed their asses off. That pretty much set the mood for the entire, six hour flight.

We landed in Hawaii late that afternoon and we were all tired from the long flight, but when we walked out of our gate a man stood off to the side with a thick, white paper with the name Martinez on it.

That's right. Mom's friend sent us a _car_.

The road there wasn't smooth, but the view was amazing. Clear blue water stretched for miles and lush green plants grew along every trail with bright colors creating a whole new experience. Everything was fresh and clean and alive. I was seriously glad that I had made it to Hawaii before I died.

The road led us to a private beach. It was clean and a boat sat at the dock. A big beach house sat a little ways in land. Perfect green grass surrounded it and tall bushes, short trees and flowers blocked the backyard from view. The walk was a reddish color that led up to the big double doors at the front of the house.  
As we made our way up the walk, the door opened and a man stepped out with a bright smile on his face. "Val!" He said, giving my mother a tight hug. "It's so good to see you again!"

A tall, somewhat handsome man was hugging my Mom and I wasn't sure if I approved or not. It was probably just my overprotective nature kicking into gear, but still. He was about two heads taller then Mom, he had brown hair and deep blue eyes.

"Kids, this is my old friend Dr. John Abate. He transferred to my high school in our Junior year and we've been best friends ever since." Mom said, stepping to the side as stuck out his hand to me.

"You must be Max, it's so good to meet you." He said with a pleasant smile. I smiled back and shook his hand.

"Uh, yeah. And this is Fang, Spike, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel and Total." I said pointing to each of them as they stepped forward and shook his hand. He even shook Total's paw.

"A pleasure to meet al of you. Ella, Ari, it's wonderful to meet you face to face. Your mother has told me so much about all of you." He said. "Come in, relax. There's plenty of room for everyone."

We shuffled into the house and took Mom's bags for her as he started to lead us to a staircase. But we didn't make it to the first step because a big, white, furry creature came running around a corner, tail wagging and barking excitedly.

"Akila!" Total cried, throwing himself at the white malamute. The two looked so happy together and I realized that Total must have missed her more then any of us had thought.

"Hey!" We all looked up to see Bryan and Paul following after Akila. "I can't believe it, what are you guys doing here?" Bryan continued as the greetings and the hugs started.

"We're staying with because he and Dr.M are best friends. What are you doing here?" Angel asked, looking up at them with a sweet little smile.

" is our cousin. We came to visit as soon as we got back home from Antarctica." Paul explained.

"Fang! Max!" To my horror the clicking of high-heels against the hardwood echoed in the entry hall. Bright red hair and flashing white teeth filled my vision as Dr. Brigid Dwyer came hurrying up. She threw her arms around Fang, giving him a hug and watching his arms return that hug made me physically ill. Then she turned to me and gave me a hug as if she actually cared about me, continuing down the line of bird-kids until she finished with Angel.

"I can't believe you guys are here!" She beamed at us, but watching flip her hair and giggle made me want to hurl.

"Yeah, we can't believe you're here either." I forced a grin, speaking through my teeth as everyone started talking and catching up. Why did she have to be here? Why did my Hawaiian adventure have to be ruined by the amazing, underage, beautiful, perky, positive, perfect, red-headed doctor?!

That night I couldn't sleep because of everything on my mind. Apparently Brigid was John's assistant for the assignment they'd both been requested for. Although John said they didn't do much work together because Brigid did most of her work at the base while John did his work on the field where all the action was. But that didn't change the fact that she was still here!

I couldn't stop thinking about the hug she'd given Fang. For so long Fang would do nothing but tense up whenever anyone outside the Flock hugged him, but just a week or two and he was already nice and cozy with .

I was so confused about everything. I didn't know why it bugged me so much that they were so close and I hated that everything between Fang and I was changing. I loved everything we had because he was my best friend, the one I could alays turn to - and Spike, too, but she's not the one who's changing! Now I didn't even know what it was between us and I was terrified that I was losing him.

And now I was running my fingers through my hair, trying to comb it down so it looked less like a tangled mass, and looking in mirrors whenever no one was around to see, wondering if I was pretty. Pretty! A year ago, when my hair got in my eyes, I would just hack it all off with a knife. The only thing important about my clothes was whether they were too stiff with - _whatever_ - to move fast in battle. Now everything was different. It wasn't simple between Fang and I anymore.

"But you are really pretty, Max." A small voice said next to me. I pressed my face into my pillow and growled some colorful language. Way to go, ace. Have embarrassing, personal thoughts while you're sharing a bed with a mind reader. "You have nice hair and really pretty eyes." She continued.

I rolled to face her with a sigh. "Yeah. Brown and brown." Have I mentioned how much Fang loves red hair? I think I have.

"No. Your hair has little caramel streaks in it." Angel informed me. "And your eyes are like... You remember those fancy chocolates we got for being good? With all the different shades of brown swirled together? And then Gazzy ate the whole box, but it was too many so he barfed all night? Those chocolates?"

As much as I tried to suppress all memory of that incident, it rushed back to me in vivid technicolor. Patting Gazzy's back, holding a cup of water for him, washing his face with a clothe whenever he stopped puking for five minutes.

"The color of my eyes is like barfed-up chocolates?" Despair settled over me. There was no hope.

"No, the chocolates before they were barfed." Angel clarified. So there you have it. The extent of my charms: Brown hair and eyes like unbarfed chocolates. I'm a lucky girl.

"Max." Angel said. "You know Fang is the bestest guy ever. And he loves you. A lot. 'Cause you're the bestest girl ever." You see the problem with mind readers is, with anyone else, you can ask them how they knew that and then discredit them. But nope, Angel had seen it. In his mind.

"We all love each other, Ange. We're a family." I told her, losing my patience with this whole conversation.

"No. This is different." She went on relentlessly and I flopped on my back with a sigh. "Fang loves you."

Here's a little secret I have to share: I hate gushy emotion. Hate crying. Hate feeling sad. Not even a very big fan of feeling happy. So all this - the vulnerability, the longing, the confusion, the terror - I desperately wanted it to all go away forever. I wanted to cut it out of me like my Mom had cut out my chip. But to do that, I had to get Angel to drop it.

"Okay, Angel. I'll give it some thought. Just get some sleep." I said, rolling away and closing my eyes.

"Maybe you should do more then that." Angel pressed. My eyes flared open and I didn't dare to think what she might mean. "He could totally be your boyfriend!" She giggled with annoying persistence. "You guys could get married! And I could be your flower girl! And then you guys would be like our real mom and dad! And -"

"I'm only kid!" I shrieked, probably waking up everyone in the house. "I can't get married!"

"You could in New Hampshire." Angel insisted. My mouth dropped open. How did she know this stuff?

"Forget it!" I hissed. "No one's getting married! Not in New Hampshire or anywhere else! Now go to sleep before I tie you to the bed and slap duct tape over your mouth!"

Oh yeah, like I got any sleep after that!

**AN:** Ah, another adorable moment brought to you by Angel. I hope you enjoyed this week's second chapter, again I posted two because I want to finish this by Halloween so I can get started with book three! R&REVIEW! -Owl.


	18. Grounded

_**Maximum Ride - Episode 17: Grounded**_

"You have done well." The short man told Devin, sitting in a large, comfortable chair and sipping on the wine he held in one hand, twirling the glass so the red liquid inside stirred and swirled.

"The target has been given the warning you requested. I am prepared and awaiting your orders to begin phase two, Sir." Devin told him monotonously.

"Very good. We will wait. For now, you are dismissed. I will keep an eye on our target." The man told him, spinning his chair around to look at the monitor behind him. On the screen was a girl, looking out of the window before her with a disheartened expression.

"Understood, Sir." Devin turned on his heel and left the room, heading for his own quarters. But on the way there, he could not help but wonder what his boss planned to do with the girl once he brought her in...

I. Hate. Everything. Not even my Mom's amazing, wonderful, delicious, chocolate-chip cookies could cheer me up. I know because I've already eaten four batches and a gallon of milk on the side.

After watching the most disgusting display ever at breakfast - also known as Brigid and Fang flirting with each other - John and Brigid left for work. Bryan and Paul took Ella and Ari out on the boat with Total and Akila and my Flock left me here to go flying. Flying! It's like they were trying to make these three days of forced rest double the crap already it is!

Now I was sulking. Looking at the clear blue sky out the window and wishing that I could fly. The best feeling in the world to me, is flying. There's almost nothing like it anywhere else in the universe. So, of course, it's me who gets shot in the wing! If it had been one of the others, then they would have complained about the pain a bit and then shut up until the three days were up, but me? Flying is a part of me. It's my relief from... well, everything. Me not being able to fly is my worst nightmare come true. So naturally I'm a royal mess.

Watching my Flock flying away without me was one of the most painful things I've ever experienced. And I've been through a lot of pain. It made me realize how fast Iggy was growing up and that Nudge would be doing the same in probably less then a year. One day my nest would be empty and my kids wouldn't need me anymore. Part of me felt like they didn't need me now.

I sighed heavily. Sitting here and thinking about my life was making me depressed.

"Max."

"What?" I snapped, turning away from the window. Mom stood there and I instantly felt bad for lashing out like I did.

"Come on. I'm going to show you how to make Puchero Yucateco." She said, taking my arm and dragging me away from the window-seat. I almost groaned out loud. Please don't let this be a craft.

As it turned out, Puchero Yucateco is a stew made with three kinds of meat. When Mom had brought me to the kitchen and started talking about where we would start, I immediately told her about the time I almost burned down the house with nothing but a pot of water. She gave me a look, wondering how someone could catch water on fire, but then she shook her head and told me that she would be there the whole time, showing me what to do.

I was a little hesitant at first. I didn't want to poison everyone at dinner... again. But I got more confident as Mom and I spent the afternoon chopping, stirring and mixing. My Mom taught me how to tell when onions had cooked enough to be sweet and how to tell when meat was done, so it was nice and tender. But despite all my mother's warnings as we chopped up habanero peppers, I managed to brush my fingers against my nose. My nose burned and ran as my eyes watered, sending tears streaking down my cheeks. I staggered around the kitchen, waving my hands around my nose in an attempt to get the burning to stop, but it didn't work. Eventually Mom managed to stop laughing, dry her own tears and wipe off my nose for me with a wet cloth.

"Ow. Ow! OW!" I yelled, prancing around the kitchen after burning my last good finger on the hot stew pot.

"Come on, under the cold water." Mom said, pulling my hand and shoving it under the running faucet. Cold water doused my finger and the burning soon faded to a tingling feeling. Mom put some cream on it to hep it heal and to stop any itching, then wrapped my index finger in a band aid.

"This is pathetic." I said, looking at my fingers. All of them were wrapped in band aid, some in two places, and they had all been from cooking related incidents. Chopping, boiling, frying. I even managed to cut my pinkie when I opened a can of beans. So much for that 'clean cut safety' can opener.

Needless to say, my fingers looked like they belonged to a mummy. But, even with all the pain and annoyance I was going through, I was having fun. A year ago if anyone had told me that I would be here, learning how to cook from my amazing mother and having a blast while doing it, I would have laughed. My Mom had done the impossible and taught me how to cook something. And it was great spending some time, just the two of us. Normally I have to watch the kids, or she has to help Ella and Ari wih something. It was a nice change to have her to myself.

"It's not pathetic." Mom said, swatting me over the head with a towel. "You're trying. That's more then a lot of people can say about a lot of things. Cooking isn't easy for everyone like it is for Iggy and you're doing great." I smiled. Mom always knows what to say.

"Hey, we're back!" Spike called from the front door. I could hear them taking off the shoes and shutting the door.

"Huh. Why is Max in the kitchen?" Gazzy asked, his hair tousled and his face flushed.

_"He obviously enjoyed himself, flying through the air, miles above the ground and diving at hundreds of miles per hour just to get that breath-taking thrill. Well, screw him! I'm having plenty of fun! The cuts and burns give a nice tingling sensation after your fingers go numb!"_ The spoon I was holding snapped in two as my grip tightened around it. I saw a drop of sweat slide down Gazzy's head.

"We're cooking." My Mom said, giving him a pleasant smile. Gazzy's face dropped.

"Yeah, but... She's just keeping you company, right?" He asked nervously as the others crowded into the kitchen behind him. Their eyes widened at the broken, wooden spoon in my hand. A smile had ground it's way onto my face as my eyebrows narrowed around my twitching eye.

"No." My Mom said patiently, her face calm, although there was a small glimmer of understanding on her face. She knew this could go real bad real fast if they didn't shut up. "She's cooking. I'm just here to tell her what to do."

"Cooking... Food?" Nudge spoke up. Quick, alarmed glances were exchanged among the Flock and my smile snapped into a frown. So instead of looking like I'd gone insane with fire surrounding me in awesome fury, I was surrounded by the blue depression of someone who had just been the butt of a joke.

Then I heard one of them mutter something about ordering a pizza.

"YES, I'm cooking FOOD! And it's GREAT! And you know what else is great? Being able to tell you that you can either eat my food, or GO TO BED HUNGRY! Now go get cleaned up for dinner you Ungrateful Little Twerps! Before you really PISS ME OFF!" I shouted, practically chasing them to the bottom of the stairs as they shot up to their rooms.

About twenty minutes later everyone was sitting at the table, ready for dinner. Mom brought out the bread rolls and the chips while I followed behind with the big pot filled with a gallon of stew. Mom placed the baskets of bread and chips on the sides of the table and then stepped aside so I could put the stew in the center.

I reached across the table and plopped the giant pot on the pot-holders that had been set down for it. I glanced up at Fang, who was sitting right in front of the stew, and noticed that he was looking at my hands. I yanked my hands back and quickly took my seat across from him. I didn't need his pity, he'd chicken out last second and go to bed hungry, just like the others.

"Alright, bowls up." Mom said, picking up the ladle and scooping up some of the stew.

I glared at Fang with the same narrowed eyed smile I had on earlier. I could see the sweat gathering on his face, the lump forming in his throat and his bowl slowly rising to meet the ladle - Wait. What?

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped open as he let my Mom fill his bowl with my stew. He looked down at the steaming dinner before him and then reached for one of the rolls. He ripped off a small piece and dipped it in, pulling it out once it was soaked with the stew. I could feel everyone around me watching him and he brought the bread up to his lips and... ate it.

He actually ate it!

Everyone at the table watched as he chewed and swallowed. He looked down at the stew again and then reached for two more rolls as his other hand picked up the spoon beside his bowl. The rest of the Flock looked at each other with slack jaws and wide eyes, meanwhile I leaned back in my chair with a smug grin.  
Iggy suddenly grabbed his spoon and shoved a mouthful of stew into his mouth. His eyes widened for a second, his cheeks were puffed up by the food in his mouth and a faint blush reddened his cheeks from the heat of the peppers.

"Damn, that's good!" He exclaimed before shoveling it into his mouth like he hadn't eaten anything in a year. The others followed after them with similar reactions to it and as each of them started eating, my grin got bigger and so did my ego.

After just half an hour the stew was gone and everyone was smiling with satisfaction. Mom took the empty pot and baskets to the kitchen and I followed. I went to the oven and pulled out a plate of cookies that had long since cooled off. When I came out again Gazzy was talking.

"Man, I feel great." He said, kicking back in his chair. He patted his stomach happily and then grinned when I placed the cookies down in front of him and the others. "I looove Mexican food. I looove cookies."

Then Jeb leaned forward, his elbows on the table and his fingers laced together. "Has everyone had enough to eat?" He asked.

I could already feel my skin crawling and hair bristling at what he was about to say. Whenever Jeb addressed all of us, it was usually bad and the last thing I needed at the moment was another bad thing to handle.

"If you have, we need to plan your next steps." He said. I noticed that some of his hair was starting to grey. I loved thinking that I had caused some of it. But at the same time my face turned to stone. I didn't have to look at Spike and Fang to know what they were thinking. None of us had ever taken well to being told what to do by adults.

"Oh?" I said in a voice that would make most anyone pause, but Jeb was used to it. Having heard it from me since I was about three or four.

"Yes." He said with a firm nod. "A new school was recently created - The Day and Night School. It's for gifted children and is designed to let kids learn at their natural pace, in ways that suit them best. You'd all do wonderfully there. It's one of the only school's in the world where you would fit in."

"Yeah, because we're all about fitting in." I said, rolling my eyes. Fit in? How on earth would we - flying mutants with wings, freaky powers and a talking dog - fit in among a bunch of completely normal humans who, at best, had a bigger brain then the average person? These people were probably just kids who scored higher on the math test then the person sitting next to them. The second they saw us they'd probably freak out.

"Where is it?" Nudge asked. I could hear the eagerness dripping off of every word and another heavy weight was added to the list of things that needed doing.  
"In a beautiful, secluded part of Utah." Jeb told her with a smile. "It's got mountains to climb and explore, a lake to swim in, horses to ride. And it's all perfectly safe."

"Really?" Nudge's eyes were wide with the vision of it. "I love horses. And school - tons of books and other kids to talk to..." A wistful look came over her face as she trailed off. This wasn't gonna end well.

"No." I said, cutting it off before it went any further. "It's out of the question, Nudge." It's not like I got a kick out of raining on her parade, I actually hated it, but she knew this was crazy dangerous and we couldn't risk that. I couldn't risk them.

"Really? It would be so nice to stay in one place for a while and learn some stuff, please Max." Nudge begged, looking at me pleadingly. Angel was nodding behind her with the same look on her face. Great. Now I had to break two hearts. Prepare for preteen girl drama.

"I like school." Ella put in. "You can meet so many people and have so many friends. you can learn some cool stuff, too. The only downsides are the buttheads and the bad teachers. But once you-"

"Ella. Not helping." I interrupted, seeing the looks on their faces made this hard enough, I didn't need my sister making it worse.

"Sorry." Ella cringed once she realized what she was doing.

"Look, guys, if it was safe and it was what you really wanted, then I would get you in a school. Probably not that school, but still a school. But you know the risks. We have to keep moving and stay under the radar. Otherwise we're putting ourselves in danger and I can't risk any of you getting hurt. Don't forget that we've still got that nameless shooter after us." I told them.

"We can guarantee your safety." Jeb stepped in again. "This is the real deal, kids."

"Oh, the real deal, huh? Please, how can you even say that with a straight face? This school is just as dangerous as all the others. Whatever 'deal' this is, it's just going to be another fake promise that will put us all in danger." I snapped. To many people had promised us safety and then been unable to deliver, so I wasn't going to take that chance again. I learned my lesson.

"School is out."

"Max, please! Can't we at least give it a try?" Nudge looked up at me from her spot on her bed and I sighed. After I shut down the school idea she'd been quiet for the rest of desert and then ran up to her room when it was over. Because of this I had to go after her and have one of those horrible heart-to-heart, girl-to-girl conversations with her. Fun.

Luckily, it was pretty late so I was able to send everyone else off to bed beforehand. But now the stalling was over and I had to be the adult and talk some sense into Nudge.

"Nudge, I promise you that I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't know it was for the best. You're just going to have to trust me on this one. This school isn't what Jeb's making it up to be." I said, taking deep breaths so I wouldn't get worked up.

"But you and Angel got to go to school, why can't I? Just for a few days, I promise I'll stay out of trouble, please, Max, please!" Nudge's eyes were starting to well up with tears.

She was right. Angel and I got to do the one thing she's ever wanted to do. The one thing she's ever fought me for. But that had proved to be a horrible choice of action and I knew now that school was just a bad idea for all of us.

A year ago if I had said no, Nudge would have been right there beside me, taking orders without complaint because she knew that I was protecting them. But now she was older. She had gone through everything with us and she had experience of her own now. She had found something that she wanted even more - more then me, more then the Flock, maybe even more then surviving.

She wanted to learn. And there was nothing I could do to change that.

"I just want to fit in." She mumbled, pulling me from my thoughts. I sighed and ran a hand through my tangled hair.

"Nudge, you know we can't trust Jeb. Besides, how many times are we gonna be in Hawaii? And all those kids they're not different, they're not like us. They're normal kids with higher test scores and they wouldn't be able to survive one day on their own."

"That's the point!" Nudge's voice rose a bit there. "They don't need to! They're not _on_ their own! People are there to take care of them!"

"I've always tried to take care of you and the others as best I could." I told her, a little stung by that.

Nudge's eyes widened a bit as she realized what she'd said. "I didn't mean it like that, I just -"

"I know what you meant." I cut her off, my voice quiet. I knew she was tired of all the fighting and the running. As long as she was with me and the Flock, she would have to keep on doing that. But that didn't stop it from hurting.

"I didn't mean that, Max! I'm just tired of it all. I want to be normal, like other kids. I'm tired of being a freak and having to run all the time and never being able to settle down. I want a home. I want to learn." She rambled, obviously frustrated by, well, everything. The tears started to flow and I honestly didn't know how to make them stop, just that I wanted them to.

"Nudge, don't cry." I said, softening up as best I could. I knelt down in front of her and brushed away her tears. "I'm sorry I can't make the fear and the frustration go away and I'm sorry that I can't give you the one thing you want, but I just can't risk losing you."

"You wouldn't have to worry about m-me... I-if I didn't have w-wings." She hiccuped and sniffled, but what really made my chest tighten was what she said.

"What?" I demanded, shocked that she would actually say something like that.

"Take them o-off." She sobbed, looking miserable. I pulled her off the bed, onto the floor and into my arms faster then she could blink. I squeezed her tight and shook my head.

"No, you can't do that." I said, holding her at arms length. "You love flying! And taking your wings off won't make you not a bird-kid. It'll just make everything worse! I haven't been able to fly for one day and I'm already gonna explode, you wouldn't be able to live with it, Nudge. It's part of who you are. And anyone - human or not - who can't see how amazing you are isn't worth your time."

"I don't want to take my w-wings o-off... B-b-but how el-else can I make it s-stop h-hurting?" She asked. I held her close and let her sob into my shoulder, making my shirt soggy.

"Hey, look at me." I said, gently lifting her chin. "It's not easy. And I can't promise you anything, really. But we are strongest, when we're together. We need each other to survive. You're a part of this Flock and that makes you my responsibility. I know it hurts now, but I promise you, one day we'll have a big house with everything you could ever want in it."

"Like a pool? A-and a spa?" She asked, sniffling a bit.

"And more." I told her, grinning brightly and she smiled and giggled at the idea. "It will be secluded, but close enough to a town so you and the others could go to school and Spike, Fang and I could have jobs. And we'll be happy and safe. One day we won't ever have to worry about someone coming after us ever again. That's always been the plan. I'm going to make you guys happy. But first I have to make sure you guys are safe. And to do that we have to focus on the mission. You think you can hold out for just a little longer?"

Nudge nodded, wiping at her eyes as she smiled a little. "I'm sorry for giving you so much trouble." She mumbled, still hugging me.

"It is never a trouble for you to come talk to me. If something's bothering you, you need to come tell me so we can fix it. That's what family is for." Nudge smiled a small smile at me and we hugged again.

I may not be the mother of the year. But I can take care of my kids.

**AN: **Hey, what's up? I hope you like the chapter! I was trying to show a bit more of Nudge's character with this and in my opinion it's not that great, but I'll be doing more character development with everyone a little later on. R&R, it will make Nudge stop crying! -Owl.


	19. Guy's Day Out

_**Maximum Ride - Episode 18: Guy's Day Out**_

"This is totally unfair! You guys are just being jerks!" Iggy harped as the rest of us drank from our soda's like normal mutant children.

After Jeb's offer two nights before Max had a hell of a time calming down Nudge and Angel, so Spike, Dr.M and myself all decided to make it a bit easier on her. While the girls - Max, Spike, Nudge, Angel, Ella - were off going to all the museums on the island - there's like twenty of them - and all the educational hot-spots, I was told to bring the guys - Iggy, Gazzy, Ari - somewhere and keep them out of trouble.

Right now we were out on the porch of a nice restaurant on the beach, finishing up our lunch. I figured we could play some volleyball or something, but even in the middle of winter the Hawaiian islands are hot. So now we were stuck drinking our soda's under the patio umbrella as Iggy griped about some unknown thing.

"What are you even talking about, Iggy?" I asked, leaning back in my chair.

"Don't look at me, I have no idea what he's talking about." Gazzy said, taking a huge bite from one of the very few hot-dogs left.

"Describe the people on this beach!" Iggy said for the second time, his face the picture of anger and annoyance. "We are in Hawaii! Beach-side dream central! Home to all surfers! And you three are sitting around staring at _each other?!_"

"I'm rolling my eyes, Iggy." I told him, still not quite getting what the hell he was talking about. I turned back to my drink, taking a long gulp, but I choked and sputtered once Iggy kicked my leg under the table. "Ow! Damn it! What's wrong with you?" I demanded.

Without any warning Iggy's hand shot out and grabbed a fistful of my shirt. He yanked me towards him so we were nose-to-nose, his face one big picture of seriousness and anger. "Describe. The. People." He said again and I pulled away.

"There's a million people." I snapped, irritated by this random show of difficulty. How did Max deal with this stuff on a regular basis? "Why do you want to know anyways? Meeting someone? Should I keep an eye out for a guy with a rose in his mouth, holding some fashion magazine?"

"You idiot!" Iggy finally snapped. "I smell the coconut oil, I can hear the high-pitched giggling. I know we're surrounded by beach bunnies and you don't even give a crap? What's wrong with _you_?"

Oh.

"What's a beach bunny?" Gazzy murmured, leaning closer to Ari.

"How should I know? Shut up and listen, we might find out." Ari suggested and the two pulled away from their leaning positions.

"Who cares? So long as they aren't Erasers, Flyboys or any of those weird robots trying to kill us." I said, waving it off as nothing. Iggy didn't agree with me.

"Who cares?!" He demanded, outraged by my comment. "Who cares? I care! You can see them, but I can't! And everyone knows that I won't be able to get familiar with them by _touch_. So be a bro and do me this solid!"

I thought for a moment and then sighed with a growl. "Fine, but you owe me a solid." I grumbled. I turned and looked around. "Um, okay, your five o'clock three shops down there's two girls. One's in a white bikini the other one has 'Party' written across her butt and they both have big blonde hair. Uh...At your one o'clock there's an Asian girl skating on roller-blades while walking her dog - like a greyhound or something."

"What's she wearing?" Iggy asked, practically wriggling in his seat.

"A striped bikini." I told him.

"And knee guards." Gazzy put in helpfully.

"Oops, she almost took out that stroller." Ari said wincing at the tight turn the girl made to follow her running dog.

"Oh, man." Iggy breathed. "More, more!" I couldn't help but remember the last time I'd done this for him. Back at Texas stadium. I know Max had heard me telling him about the cheerleaders because her death glare had burned the back of my neck for a good ten minutes before she started talking to Angel about something. But we were all guys here and imagining Max in one of those tiny bikinis was more fun for me then I'd like to admit...

"There's a girl, meeting her friend. She's wearing a pink bikini and her friend is giving her an ice-cream cone." I know it was wrong, but the picture of Max in that tiny, tight light pink bikini almost gave me a nose-bleed. Damn it, Iggy, you and your perverted needs. "Oh, it's dripping. Huh. It dripped, uh, onto her... Chest." I choked, watching the whole thing with my head tilted slightly. Iggy drew in a hissing breath.

"That's gonna stain for sure." The Gasman clarified.

"MmHm, that's chocolate." Ari added as the girl dabbed at her chest with a paper napkin.

"Hmmm..." We chorused.

A few hours later we made it back to the house. We had spent over an hour... at the beach and then another hour or so trying to figure out what we should. After coming up with nothing we decided to head back and hang out in the backyard. John had a court for any sport you could want. Not to mention, the food here was free and we could take off our shirts when we got hot and not worry about people screaming in fear when they saw the wings.

In the kitchen I found a note from Paul, Bryan and Dr.M saying that they went shopping for dinner and had taken Total and Akila with them.

I shrugged and left the note on the counter, heading outside with the guys for some two-on-two basketball. Ari and Iggy versus me and Gazzy. It ended four to five, Gazzy and I winning. After that I told them to hit the showers and turn on the Tv before the girls got back and the six of them - Ari, Gazzy, Iggy, Ella, Nudge and Angel - started fighting over who had the remote for the night.

The great thing about this safe house was the bathrooms. One bathroom for every room and there were fifteen bedrooms. We had all doubled up on rooms, so Total and Akila used the one left over as their own. So basically we could all take our showers at the same time.

When I stepped out of the shower it was dark out and I could hear the girls shutting the front door as they came in. "We're home!" Max's voice echoed around the house. I heard the guys go running the stairs, no doubt wanting to grab the remote before the girls.

I threw on the first pair of pants and shirt I could find and was down the stairs in seconds. Low and behold, the kids were wrestling for the remote that was just out of their reach and then Max stepped in front of them and picked up the device.

"I'm tired of you guys constantly fighting over the remote. Until you learn to pick a show everyone likes, Spike, Fang or I get the remote. It's all yours." She said, handing the remote to a grinning Spike.

"Well, alright." Spike grinned, turning on the Tv and changing the channel to some cartoon that all the kids could approve of.

"Hey, Fang." Max sighed as she passed me, heading up the stairs for her room and probably a shower. I wondered about her wing. Between Spike practicing her new power and Max's natural healing process Spike had taken the bandages off a day early, but that didn't mean it was a good idea for her to fly...

_"Hey, Fang? Spike told me to tell you that Max should try flying again sometime soon. Nothing to hard, just some basic flight patterns to make sure it's healing right."_ Angel's voice filtered through my head and I looked over at Spike. She winked at me and gave me a thumbs-up.

I grinned and raced up the stairs, taking two at a time. When I reached Max's door I knocked twice and stuck my head in. She had the tub filling up, steam billowed out of the bathroom as bubbles started rising in the hot water. She sat on the edge of the tub, her hand testing the water to make sure it was the right temperature and then she looked up and saw me.

"What's up?" She asked, turning off the water so the tub wouldn't overflow as we talked. She came out of the bathroom and we met half way in the room she shared with Angel.

"Well, Spike says you should start flying again. Do some basic flight patterns. So, I was wondering if you wanted to fly out for a bit, down the beach." I said, she looked nervous, probably remembering the last time we'd taken a flight together, and for a moment I thought she was going to say no.

"Uh, sure. It feels like I haven't flown in forever and - I could use a distraction right now..." She mumbled the last part and I didn't comment on it. She would tell me when she was ready.

One open window later, we were wheeling across the sky and arching into lazy loop-di-loops. I made sure to keep the pace slow and easy, because I could see the stiffness in her wing. Every time she tried to speed things up, I would fly just underneath her, turn to face her and bring her into a spiral with me. After that we would release and fall into an easy side-by-side formation and just let the wind carry us.

Eventually I could see the strain it was putting on her wing and angled my wings just a bit so I could glide down to the beach below and land easily. I looked up at Max and saw her grimace at my landing, but then she began to follow me, taking her landing slow. She did alright, only shaking a bit as she dropped below the stronger layers of air currents, but when she fluttered her wings to for a graceful, instinctive landing, her lame wing gave out and she dropped on one side. She fell face first onto the beach and coughed up some sand as I knelt next to her, pulling her to her feet again.

"That was pathetic." She muttered, obviously not pleased by how much strength her wing had lost in it's time of rest.

"It'll take time to build up the muscle again." I assured her and smirked as she made a face.

"Yeah, but why does it have to take so damn long?" She asked rhetorically and plopped down, leaning against the big rock behind her. I sat next to her and leaned back, the rock was still warm from a day of being in the sun.

"Don't worry. Knowing you, it'll be better by tomorrow." I chuckled, but then it was time to get serious. "So what's on your mind? You've been thinking about something for the past hour. It must be important if you're spending so much time on it."

Max sighed heavily and shook her head. "It's just... Everything. That guy who attacked us, Jeb's offer for school, Nudge and Angel, the mission - everything."

"That guy hasn't shown his face since we left Arizona and Jeb's offer means nothing, we can't trust him and half of what he said is crap. We know that. As for Nudge and Angel, they're just confused. They'll understand with time." I nudged her with my shoulder, wishing she wouldn't think so much about these things.

"But he's still a threat to the Flock and Jeb hasn't quit talking about that school of his. Nudge and Angel had blast today, they were so excited about learning, and you haven't said anything about the mission." She retaliated. It was my turn to sigh.

"You're over thinking this stuff. You and Nudge worked things out. She's not leaving the Flock and she's not getting her wings cut off. That guy, he hasn't shown up in days. It's not worth stressing over right now. We stopped trusting Jeb a long time ago and the mission is just that. The mission." I looked in her eyes, getting lost in the swirls of chocolate and caramel. "Let's just forget that for now. Relax and be together." I leaned closer to her.

"You know I'm not good at that." Her voice squeaked slightly as she fidgeted under my gaze.

"Then let me help you." I whispered softly, cupping her cheek with my hand as the other wrapped around her waist. "Be with me, _Max_."

I swooped down and very gently kissed her. I knew she needed time, but I had to show her what she meant to me. For a moment I was afraid she would run away again, confused about what was happening between us even though she didn't have to be, but then I felt her eyelashes brush against my cheeks. She was closing her eyes and she very hesitantly, timidly began to kiss me back.

Her small form tucked nicely into mine as I held her, keeping her close to me, her thin, strong arms were braced against my chest and she trembled as she tried to copy my movements as best she could. She was pretty good for someone with almost zero experience with this sort of thing. Her lips were soft and gentle, almost afraid of doing something wrong.

I decided to change that. I turned my head to the side and deepened the kiss, encouraging her to follow my lead and be a little more confident with the kiss. Our kisses got stronger, hungrier and we eventually slid sideways until we were lying on the sand. We went at each other for a long time and I wished that I could have done this the first time. When we were in the cave. I wished she had let me love her from the very start.

And then we were slowing down. My breath was ragged and my heart was still pounding, my skin tingled everywhere we touched and I continued to peck her lips warmly, lovingly. We slowly relaxed into the sand. Somehow I ended up on my back, looking at the stars, while Max's head rested on my chest. I kept one arm tightly around her, while the other supported my head.

I was grinning like an idiot, I knew this, but I just couldn't help it. I had the girl of my dreams curled up into my side after she finally kissed me back - without running away. I just couldn't get the smile off my face.

I felt Max shift a little as she looked up at me. I didn't meet her gaze because I was to wrapped up in my thoughts. I wasn't sure where this left us, but I wanted nothing more then for this to continue. She relaxed against me again, snuggling into my side for warmth, and she was just so _soft_.

But even so, after a while of laying there with her, we had to go back. The Flock wouldn't go to bed until Max gave the order. "You ready to head back?"

"Huh?" She stared at me blankly for a long moment and then awareness returned to her and she slowly nodded.

We hit the sky and even with a stiff wing she still managed to be the most graceful thing I have ever seen. We flew under the stars until the house came into view again.

"Whoa." I said, looking at our newest safe house. Every window, every doorway, every crack was streaming with light from the inside. The whole house was awake and the second we landed at the front door, it flew open.

"Max." Spike breathed. John appeared beside her and looked around before gesturing for us to come inside.

"Come on, we can't risk you being seen." He said, but Max didn't budge.

"What's going on?" She asked, seeing the trouble written across their faces. Something seriously bad had happened while we were gone.

"Max, we'll explain in a moment just get inside." John hissed.

"No!" Max shouted. "Not until someone tells me what's going on."

"Max." Spike's voice was quiet and full of sympathy. "Ella's hysterical and Ari's curled up in the corner... your Mom is missing."

**AN:** Uh-oh, what's gonna happen? I hope this is enough of a cliff-hanger to get some angry reviews! Maybe I should start posting another story so I can have an excuse for not writing in this one, Mmmm... Haha! You better review for the next chapter! R&R -Owl.


	20. Charging Off

_**Maximum Ride - Episode 19: Charging Off**_

I am the fearless and indestructible Flock leader. I'm fast, tough and I can think on my feet - or in flight. My hair-trigger reflexes had saved our lives more times then I could count. So my mind kicked into high gear as I cut straight to the heart of the matter.

"What?" I choked. I felt like someone had punched me in the gut.

"Come inside and we'll explain." John's face softened, but I couldn't register what he'd said - not completely.

Spike and John stepped aside to let me in, but I didn't move. It took Fang's hand on the small of my back to bring me back to reality. I numbly walked into the living room and caught tackled by a sobbing Ella.

"What -What happened?" I demanded, shaking my head and pulling myself together. I held Ella out at arms-length and looked at her and everyone else.

"We went to the store for dinner and went to the bathroom. Paul and I went outside to check on Total and Akila because they had to wait outside, but she never came back. We searched everywhere." Bryan explained, bowing his head in defeat.

"And just an hour ago the military base Brigid and I have been working at received a fax. It was from whoever took your mother. They said they would keep her hostage until our team dropped it's mission and they also sent a picture. She was tied up, but she was alive. But we don't know how long ago the picture was taken." John picked up. "We called the FBI, of course. They're helping our team to locate Valencia, they're going to inform me immediately if they find anything."

"Why would Dr.M stop the work your team is doing?" Iggy asked, sitting on the couch beside Gazzy.

"She's one of the top animal experts in the world. Her studies in college covered all animals all over the planet. She's more successful then most of you know. The military wouldn't dare risk the knowledge she has." John told them.

It felt like my heart was going to explode - it was beating so fast! My hands were shaky, my breath ragged and it sounded like there was cotton stuffed in my ears. Life was easier when it was just the six of us. But now I Total - who had somehow latched on to us despite 'his princess of snow' holding him down to one place - and My mom, Ella, Ari. My circle was expanding and it was too hard for me to keep track of everyone, keep everyone safe. I definitely failed here. I couldn't protect my mom and now she was a hostage and her life was at stake.

"We do have a lead though. We enlarged the picture of Valencia and background looks like she's being held on a boat. It's the best piece of information we have at this time, so we're going to follow it as much as possible." Paul spoke up.

"Max?" Fang whispered next to my ear. I sucked in a breath as Fang's hand brushed mine, knowing I had to say something.

"So what now?" I asked, getting everyone's attentions. "We sit around until the FBI tells us they can't find my mom and we're on our own? Let's go do things our way."

"Max, I know you want to find your Mom, but going on a wild goose-chase with no leads won't help anyone. I have a meeting with the FBI in an hour. Let me do some digging and get some answers before you go charging off." John said, rubbing his temple and then putting his glasses back on.

"I do not 'go charging off'!" I snapped, offended.

"Yes you do." John said at exactly the same time as everyone else in the room.

"Your name is Maximum 'Charging Off' Ride." Total quipped. Fortunately for him, he was out of kicking range.

"I'll be back as soon as I can, but for right now just stay put." John said, pulling on his coat by the door. Bryan and Paul followed him, leaving Brigid as the only 'adult' left.

"We'll won't be too long. And when I get back we can make a plan of action. Just hold up here and sit tight, okay?" John promised. Then he left, shutting the door behind him. I turned back towards the living room and found the Flock gathered around behind me. Fang and Spike looked as lost as I felt.

Three hours later it was 12:42 and I was staring at my ceiling, biting my lip. Holding up? Sitting tight? Waiting for answers? Those are all things that _I am not good at!_

I just couldn't take it anymore! I threw the covers off of me and yanked on a pair of jeans. I opened my window as quietly as I could and jumped up onto the sill, balancing there as I looked back and forth. The coast was clear, the wind was a cool breeze and the sky was clear and full of stars. A perfect night for flying. Everyone was asleep. I could sneak out and then sneak back in before anyone knew I was gone.

I leaned forward, ready to push off the window-sill and launch myself into the air. I could already feel the wind rushing up at me -

"Where do you think you're going?" I froze and wriggled in the air for a bit before latching back onto the sill where I could crouch safely in the window frame. I peered upwards and found Spike standing on the roof right above my window.

"What are you doing up?" I hissed. Everyone else was supposed to be asleep.

"Oh, did you really think you could sneak out without me knowing?" Spike retorted. "I'm your big sister. I know everything about you. I know you're sneaking off to look for your mom and I'm here to tell you that you're not going alone. I'm coming with you."

"Gr, fine. Let's just get out of here before anyone else wakes up." I grumbled, pushing off the sill again. Spike followed after me and within seconds we were in the sky.

It felt great being able to fly again. My wings stretched out to their fullest and my muscles loosened up as I coasted on a warm up draft. It was the most amazing feeling in the world to fly alone at night. True, I wasn't alone, but Spike was a few yards away, wheeling through the air like I was, so we were both off in our own little worlds.

Soaring above the world at night was amazing. The air was cool and it felt like you could fly way up until you could finally catch a star and hold it to your chest.  
I sliced through the air like a knife, as fast as I could. My wings strong and sleek as they moved up and down. I brought them in tight against me and dived down to level myself with Spike. She angled toward me and we flew side by side as I talked.

"Hey, Spike?" I asked. There was a lot on my mind - one of those many things being Fang - and if anyone could help, Spike could. I mean, I can't exactly talk about Fang to Fang, right?

"Yeah, what's up? Fang driving you nuts? Still upset about Nudge? Or is it something to do with Jeb? Or maybe just the whole 'save the world' mission this time?" She listed on her fingers, looking pleased with herself for shocking me.

"Do you eavesdrop on me or something?" I stared at her with wide eyes.

"If I didn't eavesdrop, how would I know anything?" She raised an eyebrow at me and laughed. "Come on, tell big sister what's on your mind."

"I don't know..." I sighed. "It's just... I'm tired of having to be the bad guy all the time. Whenever any of the kids want something or are offered a choice that we really don't have, I always have to be the one telling them no."

"You want me to do it? I can't promise they'll listen to me, but I can try." Spike offered, but she was right. No matter how much I hated raining on everyone's parade, I was the leader. I had to make the calls that they would listen to, even if they didn't like them.

"No." I mumbled. "But it's not just that." I added after a minute.

"It's about Fang." Spike said in a sing-song voice.

"What? No! I -I don't -He just -I..." Spike laughed as I stuttered and stumbled over my own words.

"Yeah. That's what I thought. You liiiike him!" She sang, circling me and then shooting ahead.

"I do not!" I cried, blushing madly as I rushed after her. "He's my best friend. Liking him would just be weird!" I said once I had caught up with her.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Best friends, weirdness, to afraid to admit you like him." Spike said with mock sympathy and understanding.

"Who ever said I was afraid? I'm not scared of Fang!" I told her hotly.

"I never said you were afraid of Fang, I said you were afraid to tell him you like him." Spike retorted. "Max, just admit it. You're so afraid of things going wrong and everything getting weird that you won't take the chance you have to be incredibly happy."

"Who said I wasn't happy?" I asked.

"No one. I just think Fang would be good for you. You don't really know much about emotions. Being in a relationship could fix that. And with Fang you'd never have to worry about getting hurt, because he loves you and would never leave you." She placed her hand on my shoulder as I blushed again.

"You sound like Angel." I informed her. "Do you want me to go and get married in New Hampshire, too?"

"What?"

"That's what I said!"

We angled to the side and started to descend to the ground. We landed in an alley way behind the store my mother had disappeared at and walked around to the front. The place was closed and the parking lot was empty. We checked for any cameras with a view of the outside and didn't find any, so we could make a quick get away, straight up into the air if we had to.

"So what are we looking for?" Spike asked, getting serious as we looked at the shop.

"Anything that could show us who took my mom and where they went." I answered, placing my hands on my hips.

"Where do we start then? Bryan said she went to the bathroom and never came back. If we want to try and trace her steps we'll have to get inside and take out the cameras."

"Maybe not. I mean, how many entrances can there be? If Bryan, Paul, Total and Akila didn't spot her coming out the front entrance, then they must have taken her out the back. If we can find signs of a struggle, we might get a clue as to where they went." I said, walking back over to the alley while thinking out loud.

"Wait." Spike said suddenly, grabbing my arm. "Do you hear that?" She whispered. My eyebrows narrowed and I listened for what she was talking about. It was a humming sound... Like a motor.

A big, black, armored van came screeching into the parking lot and two head popped out of the side windows. And they had guns. Time to leave.

"Move!" I shouted. We split apart, avoiding the rolling tires of the van. I heard the two shooters take several shots, but no pain flew up any of my nerves, so I kept going.

"Max, nameless shooter at two o'clock!" Spike called, sliding on the ground into place next to me. I followed her gaze and saw what she was talking about. The boy was back and his gun was as shiny as ever. He lifted the barrel, looking down the sights at us.

"Duck left!" I ordered, splitting right a second time to dodge the two bullets that flew from our friend's gun.

"Max, look out!" I whipped around, just to get hit in the face by the butt of a gun. Those robots that had attacked us when we fought Gozen stood above me. They're red, robotic eyes gleamed down at me and then there was a barrel in my face.

I heard the shot and something jabbed into my shoulder. I tried to get up and fight, but everything was dizzy and spinning. I looked over at Spike to see her collapse at the feet of our mysterious shooter. I wanted to help her, but my own feet slipped out from underneath me and I fell.

I looked up at the dark sky above me and several of the robot's faces came into view right before everything went black.

The next thing I know I'm being pushed into the back of a van fenced in by so many armed guards that I couldn't see anything - except for Spike who was shoved in next to me. But we were both drugged so it wasn't much good to us right now.

We were both sitting on the floor of the van, but my shoulder was throbbing from whatever had been jammed in and then brutely yanked out of it. I slid to the floor, lying on my side and carefully keeping my hurt shoulder on top.

The robots above me, staring. As if they weren't sure what to make of this new development. Spike had the same idea and curled up on her side, too. I wasn't sure what these guys were. They weren't Erasers. They weren't Flyboys. But it's not like they were super advanced, super smart robots. They were like little mindless killing machines. But they were also geeky looking.

Mmm... That's pretty good. M-Geeks. Good. Now they have a name.

I was really tired and I went to sleep.

"I told you she was not to be killed!" A voice was yelling, pulling me out of my nice, deep sleep. Then I remembered what had last happened to me and I started listening, trying not to give away the fact that I was awake now.

"It is not dead." An M-Geek intoned. I loved that name. "It is... Limp." These things had quite the vocabulary.

I decided that time was a-wasting and that it was time for this to come to an end. I opened my eyes and cleared my throat. I was lying on a blanket on the floor with Spike laying beside me. The floor was shifting subtly in a way that I immediately recognized: We were on a boat. I used my core muscles to pull myself up into a sitting position without my hands - because they were tied behind my back - and I kicked Spike awake.

Standing before me was an Asian man a couple inches shorter then me. He was stocky and wore glasses and the kind of plain, navy Chinese jackets that you see in those old movies. Thick black hair was pinned back on his head with greesey hair gel and his nose was slightly crooked.

"Maximum Ride." He said, holding out his arms welcomingly. It's kinda hard to feel welcome when you're tied up in front of your host. "I am Mr. Chu." He announced as Spike wriggled up to a sitting position with a sleepy yawn.

Might as well cut straight to the point. "What do you want, 'Mr. Chu'?"

"I wanted to offer you a deal." smiled. "If you leave your friends and come work for me. I will return your mother to you." Suddenly a screen turned on behind him and my Mom was on it. She was in a cell, asleep on the bed.

"Mom." I whispered, turning on with my death-glare. "Where is she?" I snarled.

"She is safe. For now." He answered cryptically. "I represent a group of very powerful, very wealthy businessmen from around the world."

"Of course you do." I said soothingly, trying to look for an exit without being to obvious about it.

"And we are willing to give you great rewards for your cooperation." He turned and looked at the screen with a smug expression and I felt a growl bubble up into my throat.

"And if I say no?"

Smack! My lightening fast reflexes let me whip my head to the side as he lunged forward, but he still clipped me pretty good on the cheek. Slowly, I straightened, my cheek burning and my rage boiling.

"You stupid, arrogant girl!" He spat. Literally. If my hands weren't tied behind my back I would have been rubbing the gross spit off my face. "If you and your Flock will join our group, then you will not be hunted down and destroyed. We can use you. But if you keep up with the wisecracks and your stupidity, you will soon be eliminated!"

"Nothing I haven't heard before." I growled. "The Flock and I aren't for sale, Chuey. I'll get my mom back. I don't need you for that."

I braced myself, prepared for all of them to leap at me and start attacking, adding to 's unconvincing argument. In stead the man leaned closer. He smelled of cigarettes.

"I am sorry that you and your Flock will be dead soon. But my scientists will enjoy taking you apart to find out what makes you tick." He smirked twistedly.  
"If your scientists take me apart." I said solemnly. "Clearly, I won't be ticking anymore."

was steaming with anger, but he stuck to his script. "You may think I am dreaming, but I am not. What I say is true. It is as real as the pain in your shoulder and on your face. And speaking of pain... Maximum, you should know that we are experts in the art of persuasion."

"Pain fades." I told him. "But being a nutcase seems to stick around. Guess who got the better deal here?"

That's when smiled evilly and snapped his fingers. "Pain may fade. But I wonder if guilt does as well."

Two M-Geeks grabbed Spike - who was gagged and forced to watch the whole thing silently - and then the last thing I remember is Mr. Chu's face twisted into a sick grin.

**AN:** R&R -Owl.


	21. This Mission Is Officially, Official

_**Maximum Ride - Episode 20: This Mission Is Officially, Official**_

Spike and I are genetically enhanced, kick-butt warriors, so it was pretty humiliating to be shoved out of a fast moving car about half a mile from the safe house. I landed wrong on my shoulder - of course! - and we rolled to a crumpled stop. Our hands were bound behind our backs, so we had to get to our knees before we finally managed to get on our feet - swaying a bit because of light-headedness, starving bellies and bruised and beaten bodies.

We looked at each other and then looked down the beach. I could see the safe house's outline a ways down the shore, so we started walking. We got there after about half an hour and - of course! - the second I push off the ground to get to my window some jackass turns on the porch light and throws open the front door. I flailed in the air for a couple of seconds - feeling like bank robbers caught by the cops - and then fell hard on my butt. My plan to be all sneaky so no one would notice we were missing had been blown to heck.

Fang glared at us from the darkness inside the house. He looked like a living shadow. Let me rephrase that - He looked like an _angry_ living shadow. Great.

"Where the hell have you two been?" He snapped, stalking over to us. "Do you have any idea how long you've been gone?"

"Uh... Five, maybe six hours?" I guessed, but that just got me a scowl.

"Get inside and explain why you two look like shit!" He growled, grabbing my arm, picking me up and dragging me towards the front door. Spike trailed after us and we both had the same expression on our faces. Hell in a bucket, Fang's pissed.

Normally Spike and I disappearing for a couple hours wouldn't bother him, but we usually leave a note or something and the fact that we didn't coupled with the fact that we came back 'looking like shit', he probably almost had a heart-attack, thinking we got captured too. Which, I guess, we did. But at least we came back. Unlike my mom _who was still missing._

It was early morning, so when we walked in everyone was awake and staring at us. Fang made us sit on the couch and gave us the first aid so we could fix ourselves up as we talked. But before we could start explaining, the other very angry male in the room exploded.

"What were you two thinking?" John demanded loudly. "I told you to stay put! What part of that do you not understand?"

"The part where I sit around and do nothing while my mom's rotting in a prison cell somewhere!" I shot back just as loudly, standing from my seat on the couch.

"Stop." Fang cut in, stepping between the two of us. I like John. He's good to my mom and when he says he cares about us I don't have any doubts because what he says is sincere, but he needs to learn that I have my own way of doing things and I didn't take orders from anyone. Especially when someone I care about is in danger. "Start from the beginning and go from there. What happened to you two?" Fang told us, managing to calm down enough to except the fact that what's been done is done and there's nothing left to do but move forward.

"We went to the store where Mom disappeared." I said, sitting back down with a wince. "After we started looking around we were shot at by our little friend with the Colt 45. He and his band of M-Geeks drugged us and we blacked out for a bit."

"What are M-Geeks?" Gazzy asked curiously, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"Those robots that attacked us in Florida and took us to Antarctica. I was drugged and sitting in the back of a heavily guarded van, what else was I supposed to do?" I shrugged. "Anyways, when I woke up again we were on a boat. The same one my mom had been on. A guy - called himself - offered to give her back if the Flock joined him."

"He didn't take the answer to well, encase you haven't noticed." Spike quipped dryly. "But they must have moved Dr.M before getting us because she wasn't on the boat, they showed us the cell she was in through a Tv screen. She was alive then, just sleeping."

"Wait - did you just say Mr. Chu?" Brigid spoke up.

"Yeah." I said, spitting out some blood that was in my mouth as Nudge wrapped my hand in white bandages. "Chuey didn't like it when I said no. Now we're purple and we're gonna look like freaking mummies by the time we're finished."

"That's your fault for going off on your own! Didn't I tell you not to go charging off on your own?" John just wasn't gonna let this one go, was he?

"Ah, but I wasn't alone. Spike was with me. And I was gonna bring back some ice-cream." I said defensively. John had quickly come to act like the worried Father me and the Flock never had.

"John, please." Brigid said, rolling her eyes and then she turned to me. " is a representative for a group of very powerful and wealthy men. They own multiple corporations and we believe they are behind the ships that have gone missing and been attacked all around the Hawaiian islands. Our mission was to find out if that was true and why, but I think your encounter with has changed that. We should call the base and talk to Captain Perry about this immediately."

"No. We should go to the base. If they dropped you off just a little ways down the beach, then they know where we are. We'll all be safer at the base. We'll be protected by the US Navy and their resources will make finding your mother a lot easier." John decided, but the look in his eyes was clearly one of question. For once an adult was asking me if their plan was okay with me or not.

I weighed my options. It wasn't as if I had many of those. If these guys have been chasing after for as long as they say, then they're bound to have a lot more information then we do and we have... A name for the robots working for the guy. Yeah.

I growled out a breath and then gave a stiff nod. "I don't like it, but it's our only option for finding Mom."

"The Military? Awesome!" Gazzy exclaimed, slapping high-five with Iggy.

"You are not allowed anywhere near any explosives!" I interrupted them mid-parade and they drooped.

"Man." Iggy muttered, scuffing his foot against the hardwood floor.

"I'll help find your mom as best I can, Max. But if anyone tries to make me wear one of those hideous, khaki uniforms - heads will roll." Nudge warned us and Angel nodded vigorously beside her.

Well, at least no one's trying to cause Flock mutiny.

An armored car drove for about an hour before finally parking in the Naval base John was working at with Brigid. John led us straight to a conference room and fifteen minutes later we were still waiting. The room was just like every other conference room, except this one had soda's and nachos covering the dark wood table.

It's a sad day when not even food can cheer up a mutant bird-girl.

I was twitchy and my brain was about to explode with everything that was going through it. My knee was bouncing up and down with my impatience and I was taking deep breaths through my nose, trying to keep myself from freaking out.

The kids were snacking endlessly as Brigid brought more food from the cafeteria, Spike had fallen asleep on the table - which, admittedly, I probably should've done the same, but I have enough trouble sleeping on normal nights. How was I supposed to do it when my mom was missing?

Fang was sitting next to me, munching on the cheesy chips in front of us. I could feel him glancing at me every few minutes. It wouldn't surprise me if he could feel the anxiety coming off me in waves, because it sure felt that way.

Fang suddenly reached out and put his hand just above my knee, forcing my leg to stop bouncing. "Hey." He whispered, sending a shiver down my spine and I was painfully aware of his hand on my leg. "You need some air? I can come get you when they show up." He offered, keeping his voice low so the Naval dudes across the table from us and the Flock wouldn't hear.

I gave him a weak smile, but before I could answer the door opened and everyone looked at this guy as if the party could officially start. He tucked a sheaf of papers under his arm, frowned and looked at a woman with all the stars on the shoulders of her blazer. We'd met her. Admiral Bellows - not even kidding.

"What are these children doing here?" He asked brusquely.

"Thank you for joining us, Commander." The Admiral said. "These children are crucial to our investigation. For one thing, these children, Max, Ari and Ella, are 's children." She said, sweeping an arm toward Ari, Ella and I.

"All the more reason this debriefing is inappropriate for children." The commander said pointedly.

"We're very sensitive, you know." Iggy said, getting a sharp look from the commander that was kinda wasted on him. Next to him Gazzy was snickering with Angel because of the word debriefing. Great. Now whenever one of these super serious people say debriefing all I'll be able to think about is someone's tighty-whities disappearing in a flash.

"These children are different." John cut in. "Please come in and share your findings, Commander. Time is of the essence."

The Commander paused as if trying to figure out a new way to win the argument but was distracted when Total put both front paws on the conference table. "Excuse me." He said, using one paw to brush some nacho crumbs off his muzzle. "You think you could scrounge up some pico de gallo? Maybe even some guac? And how about a nice cold Evian for my lady friend here?" He gestured towards Akila, who was sitting next to John with silent dignity.

The Flock somehow managed to keep straight-faced.

"It's okay, Commander. Like said, we're different." I smirked a little at their stunned faces. "So how 'bout we just get on with the show, eh? We're talking about my mom here."

Between my snarky attitude and the talking dog, the Commander was pretty much a squashed bug. Wordlessly he gave a DVD to the Navy guy working the computer and the lights were dimmed. A Powerpoint presentation began on the white wall opposite the table.

The first slide said: The Birds Are Working.

What the heck did that mean? And what did it have to do with my mom? I've been kidnapped myself and 'total bummer' doesn't even begin to describe it. The thought of my mom going through all that was driving me nuts.

The screen changed and the words were followed by a fuzzy movie. Hundreds, no, thousands of seabirds were hovering just above the waters surface, covering it thickly with their wings, feathers and bodies. They were feeding, or attacking, or - I don't know what.

"It's like free fish day or something." Angel said, awed by the video.

"This was filmed yesterday at nineteen-hundred hours, at twenty-one degrees, thirty minutes north, one hundred fifty-seven degrees, forty minutes west." Commander crisp pants said.

"In the Pacific Ocean, off of the coast of Hawaii." The Admiral clarified for us civilians.

"What are they doing?" I asked, impatient about getting to the part about my mom.

"We don't know. But wait." Commander crisp pants ordered. I huffed and slouched in my chair, watching the screen. The camera pulled back to reveal a small fishing boat about a hundred yards out of the way of the bird frenzy. We could see the crew, all watching the birds from the deck. Gesturing and looking amazed. Some looked scared. I read the name on the side of the ship: Nani Moku.

All of a sudden, something from beneath the water smashed up through the fishing boat, capsizing it. The boat was literally broken in half. The crew flailed in the water, trying to cling to the debris that was left as the boat sank within minutes. We saw some of the fishermen trying to save some of their comrades in the water, saw a man realize his friend was dead.

"Was that a whale, Commander?" The admiral asked, as shocked as the rest of us.

"Unknown. It could have been a whale or a submarine. We've gone over this footage fifty times with no success. But now, look at this."

The film ended and a greenish, dim, very fuzzy picture flashed up on the screen. I almost shrieked: It was my mom. Ella grabbed my hand tightly and bit her lip. Mom was looking straight forward, her eyes scared but defiant. Her hands were tied behind her back and a man with a ski-mask was standing next to her with a newspaper with yesterday's date on it.

My stomach tightened. Fang's knee bumped mine under the table - the equivalent of a reassuring hug. Normally that would help at least a little, but right now my eyes were stuck on my mom's face.

"The camera focused tightly on , as you can see." The Commander said. "You can hardly make out any background. Except -" He nodded to the technician and the picture zoomed in until it was hardly recognizable. The big white blob in one corner was part of my mom's elbow. The Commander then pointed a laser pointer at the blurred image. "Except here. To us, this looks like a window frame. Or, more accurately, a porthole. And now looked back here." He moved the laser pointer and I saw Total's head whipping back and forth. I made a mental note to never let Gazzy or Iggy get hold of a laser pointer.

"Please enhance the sharpness by three hundred percent." He told the technician. Through the thick, wavy glass of the porthole was another jelly-like blob. The Commander ran his laser over the darker blob.

When the sharpness was enhanced the room fell deadly silent. The darker blobs and the lighter blob, through the blobby window, there were words. They were words on a piece of wood: Nani Moku.

The commander stood up and the lights were turned on. "We believe this picture was taken on a submarine." He announced. "We think the submarine was somewhere in the area and capsized the boat. Though we're not certain. But they were, at some point, near the under water wreckage of the fishing boat. So they must be holding under water."

I was ready to jump up and fly to the spot where the boat wreckage was, but Ella was still gripping my hand and when I looked at Ari, he looked like the scared nine-year-old he really was.

"What does 'the birds are working' mean?" The admiral asked.

"Again, unknown." The Commander admitted. "But there was an audio clip with the bird film and when we sped up the sound by five hundred percent, that was what we heard."

"Max, sit down." John Abate said quietly. I looked at him, half-way out of my chair. "We have a plan. We need your help for it. And that plan does not involve you charging off on your own."

"I do not go charging off!" I yelled with frustration.

"Maximum 'Charging Off' Ride." Total emphasized pointedly. I growled and then slowly sat back down.

"Fine." I snarled. "Where do we start?"

"We're going to take a submarine to investigate further. We think it will take at least seven days, possibly more." A woman in a simple khaki uniform said.  
"No." I replied, crossing my arms over my chest just as Brigid said. "We don't have that much time."

"Then they can't come." The woman in khaki said.

"I'm going no matter what you say!" I retorted with a steely voice that I usually reserved for Jeb, other whitecoats and assholes. Except Fang. He's a likable asshole.

"You cannot board a vessel of the United States Navy unless you satisfactorily pass a BSSTC, a basic survival skills training course." Lieutenant Khaki harped. "This course normally takes three weeks. Under these extraordinary circumstances, we can compact it into one week. In the extremely unlikely event that you last a week, you may then board a United States vessel in an attempt to ascertain 's whereabouts and, if possible, execute a rescue mission, under the supervision, direction and authority of the United States Navy."

"You sure do like saying United States Navy." Gazzy said cheerfully, grabbing a handful of nachos. Her grey eyes flared as she looked down at him.

"Lieutenant, I'm sure you can appreciate the very dire need we have to begin the search as quickly as possible." John said firmly. "Admiral Bellows assured us that we would have every resource necessary."

"And so you shall." Said Lieutenant Khaki, turning to him. "As soon as you pass a BS -"

"Yeah, we got the BS part!" I slammed my palms down on the table. "We have all the survival skills we need and then some! You can't teach us anything!"

For a moment Lieutenant Khaki looked like she was about to laugh in my face. Instead she just snorted and motioned to a khaki-clad underling. "Ensign, show our visitors - and their dogs - to their quarters."

Total huffed indignantly and I whirled to look at John, who looked tired and frustrated. I reminded myself that he cared about my mom too.

"Don't worry, Max. I'll make some phone calls, see what I can do. In the meantime, just do what they say. We need their resources." John murmured to me and I sighed, motioning for the Flock to follow the underling.

I hated this. I'd always gotten us out of scrapes on my own. I'd never once had to agree to let some official person help us. But this was different. I knew I couldn't find my mom by myself or with just the Flock. the Pacific Ocean was just too big. Too deep. The fact that accepting this bitter reality practically made any psyche split in two is indicative of my trademark inability to work or play nice with others. I missed the good old days when I was just supposed to save the world. That was so much easier to stomach then having to save my mom.

After a moment, I nodded tensely. "They have to take us as soon as we pass the course." I grumbled irritably. "Even if it's less then a week."

**AN:** R&R -Owl.


	22. Let The BS Begin

_**Maximum Ride - Episode 21: Let The BS Begin**_

"Ensign Chad Workman reporting for duty!" Someone yelled outside the room I shared with the other girls very, very early the next morning. I groaned and rolled clumsily out of my bunk.

We had spent the night in an overturned, metal half-pipe. John said it was called a Quonset hut. It was like a long, low hotel room with a hobbity roof. At one end there were five sets of bunk beds, giving us ten beds. One for each of the Flock, one for Ella, one for Ari and one for Total and Akila.

Now I threw open the door and glared at the guy standing in front of me. "What?" I snapped. I was not a morning person. Especially when you wake me up at five o'clock in the morning!

The young crew-cut looked startled and double checked the number on our door. "Uh, Ensign Workman reporting for duty. I'm supposed to lead some temporary recruits to mess, kit and then the BSSTC grounds."

"Guys, it's time for the BS!" I called back into the dark hut, just to get groans of protest and annoyance in reply. I looked back at Ensign Workman. "I think we've got the 'mess' part handled, but the BS is gonna be up to you."

The guy looked taken aback and shook his head a bit before going on again. "Uh, are you hungry? The mess hall is open."

"We'll bring you guys back some food, alright? Just hang tight for right now and look after each other. Total, stick close to these two." I ordered, giving Ella a quick hug as the Flock stumbled to the door and gathered in a sleep-ruffled group.

"Don't worry, I'll keep the pup in line." Total puffed out his chest and Ari rolled his eyes.

"I'll try not to chase him, but if he keeps making comments like that, I think I might have to." Ari told me and I cuffed his head lightly.

"Don't cause trouble. I need you to take care of Ella." I said and then I returned to the door and stepped outside where the Flock was gathered. Ella stood in the doorway with Ari behind her and Total and Akila at her feet.

Ensign Workman was staring at Total, probably stuck on the whole 'talking dog' thing, and then looked back at me, chuckling nervously. "And after breakfast we'll get you set up in some uniforms."

This, of course, made Nudge's head snap up in a panic and Fang cocked an eyebrow. I silently wished good luck to whoever had to get those two into khaki.

"Is there a mess hall?" Gazzy asked. "Can we see your weapons? Can I drive a tank? Do you have a lot of explosives?" Ah, the endless question phase. I remember when Iggy went through that. Nudge never grew out of it.

The ensign looked besieged. "Yes to the mess hall. No to the weapons. Major no to the tank. The explosives are nothing you'll get close to. Okay, kid?"

Gazzy looked disappointed, so I came up beside him and muttered in his ear. "Welcome to Khaki Wonderland."

Iggy fingered the khaki cloth of his uniform pants. "This really isn't a good color for me." He said quite seriously. "I'm more of a 'winter'."

Frankly it wasn't a good color on any of us. But it looked downright odd on Fang, who only ever wore black and the occasional greys. Although, he was taking it better then Nudge, who was seething and turning red in the cheeks. I think she was mostly upset about them not having a matching headband.

Ensign Workman gasped as I pulled a large pocket knife out of my boot and started slashing huge slits into the backs of our new uniforms. "You're defacing property of the United States Navy!" He said, shocked.

"Gotta let the wings out, man." Iggy said, stretching his wings out of the slits and then folding them against his back so he could pull on the jacket.

Ensign Workman turned white as the others did the same, taking no pity on him, and, as you can imagine, that only made his uniform look that much worse.  
The BS grounds were separated from the rest of the base by a eight-foot tall chain-link fence. A tall, chisel-faced man stood at the entrance, holding a clipboard and wearing a frown. Ensign Workman silently turned us over to him, then slunk away into the crowd, no doubt hoping never to see us again. It's weird how many people feel that way about us.

"The classroom is aft of those trees!" The guy barked. "March!"

I was already boiling as we trooped through the small doorway into the small, linoleum-tiled classroom. A classroom. People trying to stick me in a classroom was becoming as predictable and annoying as people trying to kill me, but with less-fun results.

"I can't believe I'm sitting at a freaking desk when my mom s tied up on a submarine somewhere!" I finally exploded, hating this whole damn BS shit. "This is total crap!"

"Sit down!" Snapped our instructor.

With great difficulty, and Fang's hand pushing me into it, I sat in the plastic chair, fists so tight that small puncture wounds stabbed my palms because of my finger nails. I was calculating how much force I'd need to hurl one of the desks through the window, when several other students, male and female, dressed in khaki, looking young and impressionable, filed in silently and immediately took their seats. They tried their best to ignore us, already well on their way to that whole stiff-upper-lip thing, but I could feel them sneaking glances.

The guy at the front was writing on the whiteboard 'LTC Palmer'. He dropped some files on his desk and turned to regard the class with loathing.

Angel raised her hand. "Excuse me, Sir? What does 'LTC' stand for?" She asked sweetly and then blinked innocently. If I weren't completely freaking out about my mom, I would have smiled and thought about how cute she was.

"Loving Tender Care?" Gazzy suggested. If our instructor had had lasers for eyes he would have sliced Gazzy in two.

"Lieutenant Colonel." He told them gruffly. "You're here to learn how to survive, kid. Why, I don't know. But it's my job to teach you. First lesson: you speak only when spoken to, you got that?"

"Uh-huh." Gazzy nodded.

"You say, 'Yes, Sir!'."

"Okay." The Gasman was starting to get bewildered.

"Say it." Lieutenant Colonel said expectantly.

"Oh. Okay. Yes, Sir!" Gazzy smiled, looking pleased with himself.

The Lieutenant heaved a heavy sigh of annoyance and turned back to the whiteboard. He wrote, The Basics: Personal Defense. Weapons use. Outdoor Survival. Covert Operations.

Really? Let's take a little look at the Flock files, shall we? The Flock is, well, somewhat talented in the area of self-defense. Most weapons we were already pretty familiar with, though - granted - I'd probably need some coaching in launching air missiles. Outdoor survival? You mean what we'd been doing for the past four years? Desert rats and snakes and whatever we could get from dumpsters? I think we're good there. And, of course, covert operations. That was going to be fun. I could hardly wait until they saw Fang disappear right in front of their eyes.

I figured we would be able to wrap this up by about four o'clock this afternoon, if we took a short lunch. Then we could get on an official U.S. Navy vessel and _go get my mom back!_ Then I was going to take apart, one piece at a time, and feed him to those weirdly active seabirds that seemed to hang around here.

I leaned over the instructor, peering down at his face. "You okay? Sorry. Didn't mean to slam you against the wall that hard. Nose not broken? Good."

Our Personal Defense instructor, the guy in the white karate gi and a black belt with eight level lines, was still trying to catch his breath. He'd already tried jackknifing to his feet, only to slide slowly side ways as his brain registered that there wasn't enough air in his lungs to preform the move.

We stood around waiting with the rest of the class, which was now looking at us as if we were a bunch of freaks - Oh, wait. That's because we are! So far in this class there had been about fifteen minutes of watching the instructor flip, throw, kick and punch just about everyone in the room. He'd ignored us until I had stepped up right in front of him, ready to finish this before wasting anymore time.

"You can just watch for now." He had said briskly.

"No. Let's just get this over with." I demanded, shaking my head stubbornly.

So he explained what he was going to do and how I was going to block it, but I was already thinking about lunch at that point and wasn't really paying attention. Then he had come at me and I dodged to one side, grabbed his arm as I was going by and threw him the opposite way that he was going, as hard as I could. His face had hit the wall and now his nose was swelling up, but it wasn't bleeding so it wasn't broken. He probably just bruised it when he put that dent in the wall. He looked a little better now, wheezing slightly as he sat up, overcoming the initial shock.

"I told ol' Palmer that we had a pretty good handle on this sorta thing, but I guess he didn't believe me." I said apologetically.

His eyes narrowed as he quickly, and clumsily, got to his feet. He was a good ten inches taller then me and probably out weighed me by about two hundred and fifty pounds. "That was a fluke!" He sputtered indignantly. "I was going easy on you because you're a kid, but if you want a fight, I can fight."

I guess this goes into the bulging file of Max's Nongirliness, but my heart gave a little jump. I'd been worried about getting soft and losing my sharp, survival instincts. Now this nice Navy guy was offering me a chance to brush up on them a bit.

"Yeah?" I asked, trying to sound cool, but I'm sure anyone could hear the excitement in my voice. Behind me, I heard Fang snort and Spike chuckle as Gazzy and Iggy started calculating odds and exchanging money.

"Don't hurt him too bad, Max." Spike grinned and Angel nodded next to her. Nudge was still moping about the whole 'khaki uniform' thing, though she did look excited about the fight.

A look of fury crossed the instructor's face. He rolled his shoulders, walked about ten paces and then turned to me while cracking his knuckles. The other students looked nervous and edged away from us, backing up to the walls. The instructor stared at me with this hard, give-me-no-slack determination, got into a fighting stance and held out one hand, beckoning me.

"I saw that movie too!" I exclaimed. "It was soooo cool! Like, one of the best movies of -"

He launched himself at me, interrupting my sarcastic teasing. That was when his day started going downhill. He lunged and I dodged right, but he knew that trick now so he faked it and shot his leg out in a kick. I grabbed his foot, threw it aside and punched him three times at three pressure points in his side. He crumpled to the floor and once again I was leaning over him again as he wheezed for breath.

"It's not your fault." I told him. "We're genetically enhanced. And, you know, ruthless. Plus, of course, meaner than a rabid wolverine. Are you okay?"  
After a long pause, he nodded silently. I jerked my thumb back at the rest of the Flock. "Do you want to try against any of them?" All of them, except Fang, failed at not looking hopeful. They guy shook his head. "Good choice. Then how about you give us a check on the self-defense part of the BS? Okay?" He nodded again.

I looked at the others. "Is it lunch time yet? I'm starving."

"It's a little past nine in the morning." Fang smirked after glancing at his watch.

I groaned. "Okay. Let's go find a vending machine. I need, like, a million Twinkies."

After answering a bunch of questions on paper, rope swinging over quicksand, wading through rivers while holding weapons over our heads, balancing on spinning logs, climbing ropes, running fast, crawling through tunnels - we were barely panting, while our classmates were bent over their knees, gasping for breath.

"This is fun!" Gazzy said happily, shoveling food into his mouth at lunch time. "That obstacle course reminded me of that time in New York when we were going through the sewers and had to climb and duck to avoid all that muck. Pass the ketchup." I pushed the ketchup over to him.

"I gotta hand it to the Navy." Iggy said. "They know how to keep the chow coming." He got up to get fourths, easily threading himself through the tables and crowds. He picked up a fresh tray and started at the beginning of the line again.

"Are we done yet?" I heaved a heavy sigh. "It's almost one o'clock and my Mom is still tied up on a sub somewhere. Every minute counts."

"We've gotten through self-defense, the obstacle course and outdoor survival." Spike said, going down the list that had been folded in her pocket. "We've still got weapons use. We'll probably be done about five or so."

"What's next?" Angel asked, taking a bite out of her third hamburger. Spike checked the list.

"Covert ops."

I couldn't help it. I grinned.

**AN:** Did anyone else have the crap scared out of them when Hostess almost went out of business? Just as a quick disclaimer: I don't own Hostess or the Twinkie, I just support them! Anyways, I posted three chapters, because in this past week you guys broke the record for most reviews in one week! Instead of two, I got three! It's a sad number, but I appreciate all my reviewers. And, also, I apologize for chapter 18. Fanfiction did it's weird spaztic thing again and took out the ' ' in " has gone missing." So it totally killed the dramatic moment. So sorry. R&REVIEW! -Owl.


	23. Like Pulling Teeth

_**Maximum Ride - Episode 22: Like Pulling Teeth**_

"Tag! You're it!" Gazzy exclaimed, pushing off the navy guy's shoulders to forward-flip across the finish line. The guy jumped about a foot in the air and had to stifle a girly shriek.

I had to admit, it was almost fun being set loose in a huge area of palm-tree covered jungle and then having to get passed the guards blocking the way to 'home base'. Fang pretty much just walked right past them. All he had to do was stay really quiet and we all know how _hard_ that is for Mr. Tall-dark-and-_silent_.

I had climbed into the trees, jumping from branch to branch overhead and then coasting down gracefully on my wings. The guards had stared at me - and my wings, folded in loosely behind me - for a good fifteen minutes before I finally got annoyed and told them to take a picture.

Spike and Iggy had been forced to the more stealthy approach. Actually ducking behind trees and the occasional huge volcanic boulder. But, all the same, it wasn't hard for them to slither past the wide-eyed and alert guards. Nudge had took the long way and made a big circle around the guards, coming up from behind and announcing that there were hundreds of cool animals and plants to see.

Gazzy had relied on the element of surprise, as he usually does. He mimicked a bird call perfectly, getting a soldier to look up and then dropped down in front of them. When they chased him, he set off one of his self-induced, unfortunate occurrences. Safe to say, Gazzy incapacitated the guards, leaving them coughing and gagging on the ground as their eyes watered from the smell.

He raced through the trees, cackling in triumph and getting high fives from Iggy and Fang as Lieutenant Colonel Palmer's nose turned up and he frowned at the jungle.

"It'll fade in a couple of minutes." I told him, flopping on the ground on the opposite side of the clearing with Spike and Nudge. "It always does."

Palmer turned a furious glare onto Gazzy, who was still grinning evilly. "You were forbidden to bring any and all antipersonnel weapons!"

"That's the sad part." Spike said dryly. "He didn't."

Palmer gave her an incredulous look and I rolled my eyes. "His _name_ is the Gasman. We're not just pulling legs, you know."

Just then, Angel skipped through the trees, singing happily as she arranged the small bouquet in her hands. "Am I the last one?" She asked when she looked up and saw everyone. "Sorry. I found some really pretty wild orchids." She grinned, handing me the bouquet of bright colors and creamy white flowers.

"For me? Thank you. They're lovely." I smiled as she giggled a bit. I inhaled the wonderful smells of the orchids and felt their delicate petals as Angel pointed out each one to me. When she finished with each flower, I thanked her again for being so thoughtful and sweet and turned to the lieutenant.

"So. Time for weapons class?"

He glared at me, then at Angel, who hid behind my leg and nuzzled her nose into my khaki pant leg. The two guards stumbled out of the trees, still holding the fake rifles, but their faces were tinted green, one was missing his helmet and they looked like they just woke from a nice nap.

"Ensigns Baker and Kipowski!" Palmer shouted. "All seven of these recruits escaped the jungle within ten minutes. Did you see any of them?"

The Ensigns looked confused and stared at us until Baker finally managed to find his voice. "We didn't see the tall, dark one, Sir. Or the oldest girl, or the one with the sunglasses, or the girl in the pink headband. We saw the youngest boy, but he... Incapacitated us."

Gazzy smothered a snickered and leaned towards the other two guys. "Burritos for lunch." He whispered, making them snort and choke on their laughter.

"What about this one?" Palmer demanded, pointing his pen at Angel, who only peered out at the three with one big, blue eye. The other was still hidden behind my leg.

The guards looked at her and clouds of confusion covered their faces. "I think I saw her..." Kipowski said slowly. "I don't remember."

"You don't -" Palmer seemed speechless and I gave him a large grin. He wouldn't last much longer and then we'd be done with this.

"I might have seen her." Baker spoke up again. "I just...It's all... I don't know."

"I guess it's time for weapons class." I said pointedly. Palmer was still staring at the two guards. "Don't feel bad, we're good at this sort of stuff, as I keep trying to tell you."

"But - She's a child!" Palmer burst out, slightly red in the face as he pointed at Angel again. She ducked behind me again, hugging my leg.

"She's a sneaky and devious child." I explained and Angel giggled. "Plus, you know, I think she zapped the guards. With her mind. She can hear peoples thoughts and sometimes control their minds."

The lieutenant colonel stared at me for a long time, before finally, he let his clipboard dangle at his side. "Weapons class." He said, but you could tell his heart really wasn't in it anymore.

Back in the classroom, Palmer still looked tense from the demoralizing covert ops training. He stood at the front of the room, a big table before him with a bunch of cases and equipment. He opened one of the smaller cases and pulled out a handgun.

"This is a Beretta M9. A semiautomatic pistol." He told us, being careful not to point it at anyone. "It's one of the safest and best designed handguns in the world and is standard issue for several branches of the U.S. military."

Gazzy raised his hand.

The lieutenant seemed to go a little pale, but ignored him and continued on. "Capable of handling fifteen round magazines, this weapon has proved to be one of the most reliable and accurate -"

Gazzy waved his hand back and forth, impossible to ignore. Palmer's face started to sweat and he gave Gazzy a stern look.

"This had better be good, son." He grumbled, fixing his ever-furrowed brow on the Gasman.

"The Beretta is great and all." Gazzy said earnestly. "But I've heard the military issued model tends to jam something awful. People think it's the weird finish on the barrels. Plus, it's supposedly really heavy. Like, bowling ball heavy. Kinda like the all steel M1911 model... Oh -and the trigger's too far away for most people, even if they have really big hands..." Gazzy trailed off, looking at Lieutenant Colonel Palmer's face. "Er, it's really a neat gun, though." He said, looking concerned. "And, did you know, if you stick the spring from a clothespin right under the safety when it's in left-handed mode and then pull the trigger, it'll explode about two-point-nine seconds later? I mean, _throw_ it first..."

"Sometimes it'll explode in two-point-seven seconds." Iggy added helpfully. "Don't dawdle. And man, try doing that with the barrel stuffed full of spam sometime!" Gazzy slapped high fives with him as they laughed at the fond memory. What they didn't remember was letting it go off in Nudge's room and then being grounded for three weeks.

About five minutes later, the entire class had finally had enough of us. Palmer rubbed his eyes and pointed to the door.

"Class dismissed."

Lieutenant Khaki, whose name was actually Lieutenant Morgan, sat at her desk, reading Lieutenant Colonel Palmer's report. Every once in a while she would look up at us with a sharp look, as if she were having trouble believing we did what she was told. Eventually she put it down and laced her fingers together.

"So you're saying these children can run four miles carrying heavy packs?" She eyed Palmer disbelievingly.

"Yes, ma'am." He said clearly, looking straight ahead. The Flock and I were lined up against one wall, tallest to shortest.

"They ourperformed the rest of the cadets in every way?" She put her finger tips on the desk as she stood.

"Yes, ma'am."

"The eight-year-old beat your best cadet in hand-to-hand combat?" She walked around to stand in front of her desk, hands folded neatly behind her back.

"And the six-year-old, ma'am. Actually, she beat the instructor as well." I tried not to grin. The self defense instructor had given all of us a pass, but the hand-to-hand combat instructor had been more stubborn.

"So, thank you, really, for this great experience..." I began, shifting my weight from foot to foot. "But now that we've gone through all of your special BS training, can we go rescue my mom?"

The lieutenant gave me a sharp look. "Yes." She said after a moment and my heart leaped into my throat. "Tomorrow."

"What!?" It took a lot of effort not to shriek with frustration.

"We're putting you on the USS Minnesota." She went on, not even skipping a beat. "Which is a state of the art, Virginia class nuclear submarine with many enhanced offensive and defensive capabilities. It's on it's way here now from San Diego. It will arrive at oh-three-hundred-hours tomorrow, refuel and be ready to deploy at oh-six-hundred-hours. You will be waiting on the dock at that time. If you are one minute late it will leave without you. In addition, while on board the USS Minnesota, you will obey every senior officer without question, you will act with decorum and maturity and you will do nothing to endanger the ship, it's cargo or it's personnel. Failure to follow these rules to the letter will result in you being disembarked at the closest possible location and the mission will be scrubbed. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

By the time Lieutenant Morgan finished her speech she had walked down our line, eying each of us, and returned to stand directly in front of me, trying to intimidate me by staring me down. I met her gaze with an equally venomous glare as her icy blue eyes raked over me. wanted nothing more then to cut her down to size with a snarky remark of disrespect, but instead I bit my tongue. For once I was going to keep my mouth shut and stay in line like the grown ups tell me to. But only because my Mom's life was riding on this mission and I couldn't risk it. I would play along with their game and follow their orders. For now.

"Crystal." I told her with a tight smile.

"Oh-six-hundred-hours then." She said curtly. "Dismissed."

So what do you do when you've got thirteen hours to kill before you rescue your mom? Go swimming of course! We went back to our sleeping hut and grabbed Ella, Ari, Total and Akila.

Some of the shoreline around the base was off limits, but there was a public part too. Despite it being early evening, the weather was perfect and the water was blissfully warm. The beach wasn't crowded, but there were people swimming and collecting shells.

"Keep your jackets on, okay? The last thing we need is a bunch of tourists taking pictures of the freak's with wings." I told everyone as they threw their stuff down and ran for the water. Angel stayed behind though and looked up at me.

"I think there's dolphins in the water or something." She said, holding my hand. "Will you come swim with me, Max?"

"In a bit, Ange. Right now I just want to sit back and rest for a while." I told her. Angel nodded her understanding and ran off after everyone else, her golden curls bouncing around as she went. I sighed and sank into the warm sand, watching as the others broke out into a splash war.

Fang sat down next to me, still looking out of place in the non-black clothing.

"Whoa, khaki much?" I couldn't resist saying it.

He looked at me. "Uh-huh. And I dig your military hair." He shot back.

"Touche." I said. Self-consciously, I touched the tight French braid I was required to wear at the navy fun house. Looked back over at Fang and found him scanning the water, counting heads like I always did. Angel had apparently found the dolphins and was now petting them and playing with them.

Fang fell onto his back in the sand, putting one hand behind his head for support. The other snaked over to find mine and hold it. I felt my cheeks reddening and hoped no one would notice.

"I know you're worried about your mom." He said, his voice so low only I could hear it. I nodded, feeling the strength in his hand, the muscles and tendons, the bones, the calluses and scars. I suddenly remembered the last time Fang and I were on a beach together and felt the heat rushing to my face again. Then coming home to find disaster and chaos. My throat felt tight and my eyelids were heavy. I closed them.

"I'm here." His voice was so soft, I wasn't even sure I'd heard it. But I had. And there, in nine words, Fang had summed up everything that needed saying - or maybe just everything that I needed to hear.

A piercing scream interrupted my thoughts and Fang and I jumped to our feet. A woman was standing at the edge of the ocean, pointing frantically at a small boy being swept out to sea.

"A riptide got him!" The woman screamed. "Someone help him! Call nine-one-one!" She plunged into the water but stopped when it reached her waist.

I looked at Fang for a moment and then whipped off my jacket, throwing myself into the air. Ignoring all the bystanders, I sped off toward the boy. Working powerfully, I raced low over the waters surface, the spray misted my face and the wind whipped my hair, I could smell and taste the salt air.

I could hear Fang chasing after me directly behind and we were incredibly fast, but not fast enough. Just as we were closing in on the little boy, he sank beneath the waves, his small arms reaching up as best they could.

I yanked my wings in and pencil-dived into the water at an angle. The water was clear and I shot through it like a torpedo. Once my momentum was gone and started swimming towards the little boy in the bright red shirt. His eyes were closed and his face was still and pale.

I reached out and wrapped my arms around him, using my wings and legs to shoot upwards into the cold breeze where Fang was waiting above. I managed to struggle into flight and hover a bit, handing the boy over to Fang so I wouldn't be water-lagged anymore then I already was.

"Go, I'll follow behind!" I ordered, sending Fang streaking back off to land where people were waiting for the little boy. When I landed a man had finished performing CPR and the boy was choking and opening his eyes.

"Mama?" He cried and his mother hauled him into her arms, crying with relief and holding each other tight.

Fang and I faded back to the others, who had gathered around with our things and were waiting for us. We quickly worked out who was carrying who and took off, disappearing before anyone could remember we were there.

But after seeing that boy and his mother, I couldn't stop thinking about my mom.

Would we get the chance to have a reunion like that?

**AN:** R&R, please! -Owl.


	24. Operation Fax

_**Maximum Ride - Episode 23: Operation Fax**_

It only took about two minutes for us to get back to the base and we came down in the training field, landing smoothly and lightly in front of about a hundred stunned ensigns. The next thing we knew John Abate, Brigid and lieutenant colonel Palmer were hurrying toward us.

"You're heroes!" John said, waving. "We just heard about your daring sea rescue."

I stared at him. "How? It happened two minutes ago!"

"We have you under surveillance. For safety reasons." Palmer said stiffly.

"Oh, that's a shocker." I muttered, heading off to our hut to change.

"Fang!" Brigid gushed, pushing past me. "I can't believe you risked your life for that little boy! You're wonderful!"

I stared open-mouthed at her as she threw her arms around Fang, giving him a big bear hug. I was about to say 'I risked my life too' but then I realized I didn't want her to hug me. And I didn't want to look petty. And it's not like we were in any danger at all. The rescue had been a snap. A quick in and out. Nothing to get _this_ excited about it.

My jaw set in disgust and I rolled my eyes. I stalked past them, my stomach clenching at the sight of Brigid pressed against Fang like ugly on an ape.

"You must come have dinner with us at the Officer's Mess." Brigid insisted, latching onto his arm.

"Uh, I'm busy." Fang muttered. My eyes widened, but I kept walking and refused to turn around. "Hey." Fang said, falling into step with me. I raised an eyebrow at him. "We have to eat. Let's you and me go into town. I'll treat you to the best artery-clogging Hawaiian food we can find."

My heart started thumping painfully inside my chest for some reason and I wondered if Fang could hear it. "You mean the whole Flock?" I asked casually, trying not to freak out from the tension.

"Nah. Let them eat at the Officer's Mess with Brigid and John." He said.

I stopped and looked into his eyes. "Just you and me?" I repeated, barely hanging onto my suavity by my fingernails.

His eyes were unreadable. "Yeah."

"Hawaiian food?"

"MmHm."

I was still grossed out by the Brigid display and wanted to coolly brush past him with a mild 'I'll think about it' but the combination of having Fang all to myself for the night and fun food was rapidly destroying my self-respect into nothing more then powdery dust. then a thought struck me.

"The last time we... left the Flock, all heck broke loose." I reminded him worriedly. He grinned one of his rare Fang grins that lights up his face and makes his eyes shine.

"This time they're protected by the U.S. Navy." He pointed out.

I laughed and smiled as relief flooded through me. "Well, okay. You got me there." Oh, boy, did he have me.

Spike watched as Iggy, Gazzy, Ella and Ari splashed in the shallows of the dock. It was a covered dock in the military base that John had brought them to after dinner. Angel washed the shells she had collected earlier on the floor next to the lawn chair Spike was relaxing on and Total and Akila were dozing at the end of the dock. All around the dock in about a quarter-mile radius was a fence that kept out any dangerous sea creatures and separated the beach from the public.

"So, New Hampshire?" Spike asked, looking down at Angel, who looked up at her with a huge grin and nodded.

"Yep! Then Max could be our mom and Fang could be our dad and you could be the really cool aunt that babysits us while they're out on dates and let's us stay up late and eat candy!" Angel described her daydream, starry-eyed and excited. Spike laughed.

"Well, okay then. How about you become my assistant? I could use some help with the plan." Spike winked as Angel looked up at her curiously.

"What plan? You have a plan?" She asked.

"You see, I think we both know that Fang and Max are destined for each other, but they need a little help realizing it. Fang's easy, but Max is gonna take a bit of work and I could use the help. What do you say? Wanna help me get Max and Fang together?"

"Yeah! Where do we start?" Angel put her elbows on the lawn chair and rested her chin in her hands.

"Well..." Spike began, still keeping one eye on the others in the water. They were getting in deeper, swimming around and diving and playing games. No one noticed the hole being drilled through the fence underwater or the slippery, squishy creature slipping through it...

The only thing going through my head, over and over again, was 'Is this a date?'. There were festive streetlights and lanterns glowing around all the shops and in every window. People walked by in groups of various amounts, the ocean lapped against the shore in the distance and...

Me and Fang. Holding hands and eating ice cream.

The Flock was safe at a naval base where you couldn't even spit without hitting an antiaircraft missile and being alone with Fang - without the whole freaking-out-and-running-away thing - felt... Fun? Easy?... Even relaxing, maybe?

This totally felt like a date. And the beautiful part about it? He had turned down Dr. Stupendous to be with me. He dissed her and dismissed her, so he could eat kimchi and ice cream with yours featherly.

"Max?" I suddenly became aware that Fang had been saying my name for the past ten minutes. Now he stopped and looked at me. "Are you okay? Is the Voice back, giving you instructions?"

Actually I hadn't heard from the Voice in what felt like forever. "Uh-huh. It's in the middle of the crossword puzzle of the day." He smiled and we kept walking.

"No. I was just spacing out." I said, licking my ice cream cone. I had gotten two scoops of mint chocolate chip and it tasted amazing.

"Well, tomorrow we leap into action, so last chance to space out for a while." He said quietly.

"Yeah." I murmured. "I just hope we -"

"I know. I'm sure she's okay. We'll get there in time and I promise to let you take her kidnappers apart all by yourself." He cut me off, smirking a bit. He knew me so well.

"Thanks. It's just - It's hard enough to worry about the Flock. Is everyone here, are we together, are we safe? The circle is getting bigger and I'm not sure I can handle it. I can only worry about so much before my head explodes, you know?"

He nodded. "I've got your back, you know. You're not alone in this."

I couldn't speak for a few minutes, so I just swallowed hard and licked the sugary drip that was making it's way down my cone. "Thanks." I squeaked finally and cleared my throat a little. "I know." When I looked up we were at a metal railing, looking out over the water that reflected the stars on it's surface. "Oh, is this the ocean?"

"Yeah, it keeps popping up. What with the islandness and all." Fang smirked. He dropped my hand and wrapped his arm around my waist, his warmth seeping through my jacket to my skin.

I finished my ice cream cone, sucking the minty-chocolate ice cream out of the hole in the bottom before I realized how ungirl-like that was. Oops. I wiped my hand on my jeans and looked out at the deep blue water, glistening with moonlight, knowing that somewhere my mom was being held captive beneath it.

Then I realized that despite everything, I felt... happy? Safe? Complete? I didn't know what to call it. It wasn't something that I was on familiar terms with. I didn't understand it, but I knew that... I liked it.

"Max." Fang's fingers curled under my chin - I hoped it wasn't sticky, but I wasn't sure - and gently brought my face up to meet his. "You're a million miles away again." He whispered softly. "Are you too worried about your mom? Do you want to head back?"

"No." I said, meeting his gaze and shaking my head quickly. "No. I'm okay. Just... Kind of overwhelmed. I don't want to go back... I want to be here... with you."

Something lit in the depths of his endless, black eyes. "Yeah?"

I nodded a little shyly.

"So... you want to be with me?"

I had to grip the metal railing behind me with both hands as Fang leaned in, so I wouldn't throw myself over it, to streak away into the night. My heart was pounding and heat was rushing to my cheeks. Then Fang leaned in even closer and kissed me.

I reached up and rested my hands on his shoulders, kissing him back as best I could. I didn't have much experience in any of this. Fang is the only guy I've ever kissed, so it's not like I actually knew what I was doing, but he seemed to enjoy it enough, so I just copied whatever he did and hoped for good results.

Fang's arms were tight around me, one hand flat against the small of my back and the other tangled in my hair. His lips were gentle, but firm and urging.

Then the familiar sound of a bunch of automatic weapons being fired reverberated through my eardrums. Fang and I yanked apart, but Fang's arms didn't loosen up. If anything they got tighter.

"Duck!" He shouted, throwing himself to the ground and rolling under the bench next to us, his arms keeping me pressed against his chest. All around us bullets frosted the area, sending chips of concrete ricocheting through the air. One shard hit my cheek and I winced at the sting.

"I knew this was too good to be true." I growled and Fang squeezed me in a hug as I glared out at the M-Geeks that were firing at us. "You think they know we're coming to get my mom back? Are we getting to close?" Peering out as best I could without revealing myself to the onslaught of bullets, I counted about twenty of the M-Geeks, surrounding us in a half-circle.

I could hear people screaming and running as the gang of M-Geeks slowly moved in, closing in around us. With nothing between us and the trigger-happy robots but a shot-up bench, we were pretty much sitting bird-kids.

"Over the metal railing behind us there's a cliff face. Ease back under the railing, then drop down, wings out. We zoom up, circle around in back of them." I ordered, leader mode taking over.

"Excellent plan." Fang whispered. "Then what?"

"I have no idea. Move." We shot out from underneath the bench and threw ourselves over the railing. I could feel bullets whizzing past, but we dropped down the cliff face before any could make contact.

I snapped my wings out and veered upward. We turned up towards the sky, fast and sharp, and I felt the tip of my sneaker hit a boulder at the bottom of the cliff as the wind carried us up. We swooped low over the ocean and then arched up and around the M-Geeks that were still firing intently at the bench.

"We've got to get them over that cliff!" Fang called, his wing-tip touching mine. The trash can near by had been peppered with bullets, a sign hung down broken, and the cement bench looked like Swiss cheese. Most important, though, was the metal railing. It had been shot to pieces and would easily give way.

"Yeah. You feel up to a game of dominoes?" I cocked an eyebrow at him and he smirked. Again.

As soon as we were directly behind the mob we flipped around and dive-bombed them at more then two hundred miles per hour. I loved the feeling, but this was serious business, so I had to keep focused. A few seconds before we made impact we swung our legs forward and -Wham!

I slammed into one so hard that my teeth rattled. The force of the hit lifted the M-Geek almost two feet off the ground, sending it headfirst into the next one in front of it. Then it was just a matter of domino effect. Fang had started them off on the other side and they met in the middle and went tumbling over the edge of the cliff along with what was left of the metal railing.

We backed up as fast as we could and dropped to the ground just as -Ka-Boom!

We peered over the cliff, looking down at the metal pieces and fiery patches that was left after the explosion. We knew better then to hang around. Already police cars and fire trucks were screeching to a halt on the scene, sirens blaring and lights spinning insanely. Once again we whipped out our wings and soared into the sky, flying low and fast over the water. The balmy night air felt amazing on my face and in my hair.

Figures. My first official - yet non-official - date ends with an explosion. Awesome.

**AN:** Poor Max. I really hope you guys enjoyed the Faxness. Keep reading to find out what Spike and Angel are up to! R&R! -Owl.


	25. Submerged

**_Maximum Ride - Episode 24: Submerged_**

Cool air stirred my feathers and weaved through every strand of hair. My wings stretched out to their fullest and caught the air, carrying me without any effort. I looked below where the water reflected the stars and moon. I angled my wings and lowered myself to glide just above the surface.

I touched the water with my middle finger, creating a small line of disturbance in the calm, liquid sky. The line started as small and thin as my finger and then grew wider and wider behind me, sending sparkling beads of water flying out around me. I smiled and spun around in a circle before shooting up into the sky, leveling myself beside Fang as we streaked through the night sky.

"You look happy." Fang gave me his famous, lop-sided grin. "Normally you'd be frowning and thinking after getting attacked like that."

"Flying helps, you know?" I said as our wings gently brushed over each other.

We were nearing the base, having been flying for a good twenty minutes, and I sighed. It was gonna be a long night. How could I possibly sleep when my mom is in danger?

But nothing could have prepared me for what we found as we neared the base. When we were just above the section of beach that belonged to the military base, something shot up towards me and crashed into me. I toppled in the air, dropping a few feet, before I finally held whatever had rammed into me at arms-length.

"Angel?" I looked her over as tears and snot ran from her eyes and nose. "What's wrong? Why are you still awake?"

"You have to get Gazzy!" She cried. "He's hurt! And Spike's stuck in the fence!" She was sobbing uncontrollably, but I had heard enough.

I dropped, falling fast and wings held in tight. Fang followed up right behind me and after about sixteen seconds, I hit the water. I heard Fang pull away to go scoop up Gazzy, who was thrashing in the gentle waves of the enclosed dock. I swam through the water, seeing pretty well through the clear ocean.

I saw what Angel had meant about Spike being stuck. Her foot was caught in a bunch of severed wires, caught and bleeding as she struggled against the restraints. I could tell she was running out of air.

I darted over as quick as I could and reached for her ankle. I pulled and tugged at the wires, but I couldn't budge them. I laced my fingers through the small holes in the fence to keep myself in place as I helped Spike kick at the stupid, stubborn wires. After a few tries, on my fourth kick, the biggest wire finally snapped and Spike managed to wriggle her ankle out of the rest of the tangle, ripping open some fresh wounds in the process.

I swam after her, putting her arm over my shoulders and hauling her up to the surface as fast as I could. We broke through the water, Spike gasping for breath as I tried to pull her towards the dock.

"Those damn robots jumped me when I dove in to get Gazzy." She rasped angrily, sucking in as much breath as her lungs could take.

"At least your both still alive." I told her dryly, heaving her up onto the dock with me. I felt Ella, Ari and Iggy helping us up and as soon as my feet hit the cement, I jumped to my feet and ran to Gazzy's side. "Hey, buddy." I murmured, pushing his wet hair out of his already swelling face.

"Max, it hurts." He whimpered.

"Nudge is getting John right now." Fang informed me, his hand on my shoulder as he looked over it at Gazzy. "And Spike's cuts are still bleeding, but none of them are very deep."

"Good. Let's get them -" I started, but the door slamming open cut me off.

"Kids!" John exclaimed, running over to us. "What happened?"

"We don't know. But Spike and Gazzy need help." I said, scooping up the Gasman into my arms as Ella and Iggy hobbled over with Spike between them.

"This way." John said, leading me down the hall by the arm with the others following quickly behind.

Turns out Gazzy was stung by a Portuguese man-of-war, an incredibly dangerous, and even deadly, jellyfish. Now we were standing around a bed in a small room that Gazzy had been laid on for inspection. During the ordeal the others had been told to wait outside, but I refused to leave my little guy alone. The doctor seemed kinda amused by this, but he allowed it all the same.

"Actually, it's not a real jellyfish." The navy doctor explained as we were talking about it with the others. "So its toxins are different and we treat it differently."

"I offered to pee on him, but they said no." Iggy said, sounding a little disappointed.

"That was once thought to be acceptable treatment. Vinegar too." The navy doctor chuckled. "But actually, it's most important to remove any and all tentacles to prevent further discharge of venom. Rinsing the sting thoroughly with salt water can help."

I looked back at Gazzy. He looked really bad. They'd removed the man-of-war with gloved hands, dunked Gazzy in salt water, slathered him with goo and given him a bunch of shots. And he still looked like he had been put through a blender.

I reached out again and brushed his hair back. The doctor smiled sympathetically. "He's going to sleep for about a day. These stings really take it out of you."

I glanced at the clock on the wall, holding tight to Gazzy's limp hand. "We're getting on a sub in six hours."

"Oh, no." The doctor said. "He can't go anywhere. Trust me, he's going to feel terrible when he wakes up. There's no way he's getting on a submarine."

I rolled my eyes. No point in uselessly butting heads with the guy. Instead I got organized. I sent Fang, Iggy and Ari off to find food, got a debriefing from Ella about what happened and then finally, finally, curled up in the armchair right next to Gazzy's bed. The girls fell asleep on a hospital blanket on the floor and I rested my head in my arms on the bed.

When the guys came back with the food the girls all filed out into the hall where they could eat without disturbing Gazzy. When the door shut, I assumed everyone had left, so I jumped about a foot in the air when Fang rested his hand on my shoulder.

"He'll be okay. He's a tough little dude. Besides, one day in human time is like four or five hours in bird-kid time. So we'll make it to the sub on time." Fang said, sitting on the arm of my chair.

"Yeah, I know. It's just... I feel horrible. I shouldn't have left them on their own. I know they had Spike, but I should have known something bad would happen. I should've been here, watching them. And now Gazzy's hurt because of -"

"Don't you dare say 'me'." Fang interrupted firmly, grabbing my arm and kneeling in front of me. "It's not your fault. And I don't want you to have any regrets about our... date." He paused for a moment and then spoke strongly.

"I don't regret it." I murmured, feeling the heat flooding to my cheeks. "But Gazzy needs me now and I have to be here for him when he wakes up."

"Well, at least eat something. It's been a few hours and you haven't slept all night." He said, slipping a cardboard food box into my lap. Inside was mashed potatoes, some meat and vegetables, all smothered in gravy.

I took the offered fork Fang was holding out for me and started eating. It only lasted about an hour, so Fang told me to get some sleep and promised to wake me if Gazzy came to. After about an hour and a half, I woke up and Gazzy was still asleep.

I checked the clock. It was four thirty, almost time to head down to the dock. I didn't want to risk missing the sub, so I was going to get everyone there an hour early.

I took Gazzy's hand in mine again and sighed. I wish he would just wake up already so I would know he was okay. I squeezed his hand and brushed his hair back again. Then he stirred and his eyes slid open lazily.

"Max?" He asked sleepily, rubbing his tired eyes as he sat up and I smiled at him.

"Hey, kiddo. You feeling okay?" I asked. Gazzy nodded, looking around in confusion. "You ready to go?" I asked, fluffing his saltwater-sticky hair with my fingers.

He looked down at the rest of him as he did a systems check, then nodded. "Yep. It still hurts, a lot, but I'm okay."

"Yeah? Well, you look pretty tough with that face." I told him admiringly and he grinned happily at me. I stood up as Gazzy jumped out of the bed and we walked to the door together. I threw open the door and smiled at everyone sitting against the wall right outside the room.

"Okay, troops, time to mobilize." I said. I knew we were all tired from the long night, but that was nothing a couple of candy bars and a few cups of coffee - for the older kids only - couldn't fix. Ella and Ari would join us at the docks to see us off, but they would be staying at the base with Akila, Paul and Bryan.

"Whoa, hold it!" A voice cut in. It was the nice doctor, standing in the hallway, holding Gazzy's chart. "He can't go anywhere! People stay in bed for days because of man-of-war stings!" He said, looking appalled.

"We heal fast." Gazzy shrugged modestly.

"We were hoping for the chance to study you some more..." The doctor admitted.

I huffed. "If I had a nickel for every time I heard that. -Sorry. We've got a sub to catch."

With that, I shoved past and started running as the doc called for the nurse's help. The others darted after me, following close behind, and throwing open the door that led outside. All we had to do was cross the training field, get to the dock and the sub and then we would be on our way to saving my mom.

An hour and fifteen minutes later it was six o'clock sharp and we were prepared to board the sub. I was standing on the dock, staring at the open hatch with it's narrow ladder leading straight down into the dark, enclosed space. The U.S.S. Minnesota was really big by submarine standards, but it was still smaller then, say, a nice open field. Or a wide beach. Or a desert. Or, hey, the entire freaking sky!

"Um, Max?" Nudge asked. "Are you gonna go?" She raised her eyebrows at me. There were two officers waiting for us. The seconds were ticking by and it looked like I'd be climbing into a giant coffin. It felt like that too.

But I could not be a wuss in front of all these people. Especially the Flock.

I looked at Fang and Spike. They smiled, understanding what I was feeling, but also knowing that I knew I just had to suck it up and get on the dang sub.

A cold sweat broke out on my face and on the back of my neck. My throat was closing up and my chest felt tight. An image flashed in my mind of me trapped on the sub, under water, crying and clawing at the metal walls to get out. I was beginning to regret that twenty-fourth candy bar.

I remembered that we were doing this to save my mom and clenched my fists. I just had to remember that once we found Mr. Chu, I would be able to kick ass and take names, just like the good old days. I swallowed hard and drew in a deep breath.

"It's a sub, Max." Total urged, suffering from a bad case of goodbye-Akila blues. "Not a vat of boiling oil. Get on already and lets see if they have any croissants. I'm starving."

I took a big step forward, off the dock and onto the metal walkway that led to the top of the sub. Not the sticky-up part of the sub, but the flat, topside of its nose. I don't know the technical term.

There was an open hatch there and I strode toward it, trying to keep utter terror from showing on my face. I began to climb down the ladder, taking deep breaths all the way. Managing a smile and a wave that I hoped was at least somewhat convincing. Then Gazzy stepped on the walkway, followed by Angel and Nudge and Iggy and I knew the others weren't far behind.

No going back now.

Truth be told, if there was nothing inside the submarine, it might not have been so bad. It really was a big one. On the outside. On the inside, it was crammed chock-full of people, walls of instruments, panels of lights and switches, huge pipes and bundles of thick cables - basically there was hardly any room to walk. And there were not enough relaxation tapes in the whole world to get me through this.

Then Fang came up behind me and his knuckles brushed over my upper arm with a feather-light touch. And I felt a little bit better.

Then the two officers zipped down the ladder and one of them shouted the order to seal the hatch. He looked at us, these seven, weird, somewhat ungroomed kids who had permission to be on a naval submarine. And their dog, who almost seemed like he could talk.

"Come with me." He said. "The birds are working again."

**AN:** I hope I didn't speed through this chapter too fast, or anything. Let me know what you think and give me some feedback! R&R! -Owl.


End file.
